Family Conflict Drives Teen Cannabis Interest Through Impulsive Emotional Reactions
Family conflict predicted stronger positive beliefs about cannabis in adolescents, mediated by negative urgency (impulsive reactions to distress), with specific brain regions amplifying this pathway.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Family conflict at baseline predicted increased cannabis positive expectancies through negative urgency (β=0.017, p<0.001); heightened anterior cingulate cortex activation during emotional reward processing amplified this indirect effect.
Key Numbers
6,638 youth (47.8% female, baseline age 10.1); mediation β=0.017 (p<0.001); left caudal ACC moderation β=0.081 (p<0.001); right caudal ACC β=0.062 (p=0.004).
How They Did This
Longitudinal moderated mediation analysis of 6,638 youth from the ABCD Study across three waves (baseline age ~10 years), combining behavioral measures with task-based fMRI of emotional reward processing.
Why This Research Matters
This maps the exact pathway from family stress to cannabis risk: conflict → emotional impulsivity → positive cannabis beliefs, with brain imaging confirming the neural vulnerability that amplifies this chain.
The Bigger Picture
Identifying that emotional impulsivity is the bridge between family conflict and cannabis openness — and that specific brain activity amplifies it — provides precise targets for prevention interventions.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Cannabis expectancies measured, not actual use; ABCD cohort participants still young; ACC activation from a lab task may not reflect real-world emotional processing; observational design.
Questions This Raises
- ?Could emotion regulation training interrupt the family conflict → cannabis pathway?
- ?Are there adolescents with high ACC activation who might benefit from targeted prevention?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Evidence Grade:
- Large longitudinal study with neuroimaging from the premier US adolescent brain development cohort, using sophisticated moderated mediation analysis.
- Study Age:
- Published in 2026 from the ongoing ABCD Study, providing current insights on adolescent cannabis risk pathways.
- Original Title:
- Negative Urgency Mediates the Effect of Family Conflict on Cannabis Positive Expectancy: The Moderating Role of Anterior Cingulate Cortex.
- Published In:
- Addiction biology, 31(2), e70131 (2026)
- Database ID:
- RTHC-08099
Evidence Hierarchy
Frequently Asked Questions
Does family conflict increase teens' cannabis risk?
Yes — this study of over 6,600 youth found family conflict leads to emotional impulsivity, which in turn increases positive beliefs about cannabis. Specific brain activation patterns amplify this effect.
What is negative urgency?
Negative urgency is the tendency to act impulsively when distressed or upset. In this study, it served as the psychological bridge between family conflict and developing favorable beliefs about cannabis.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-08099APA
Azarmehr, Rabeeh; Howard, Cullin J; Kogan, Steven M; Geier, Charles; Oshri, Assaf. (2026). Negative Urgency Mediates the Effect of Family Conflict on Cannabis Positive Expectancy: The Moderating Role of Anterior Cingulate Cortex.. Addiction biology, 31(2), e70131. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.70131
MLA
Azarmehr, Rabeeh, et al. "Negative Urgency Mediates the Effect of Family Conflict on Cannabis Positive Expectancy: The Moderating Role of Anterior Cingulate Cortex.." Addiction biology, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.70131
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Negative Urgency Mediates the Effect of Family Conflict on C..." RTHC-08099. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/azarmehr-2026-negative-urgency-mediates-the
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.