Among 339 young adult cannabis users, childhood trauma was linked to more problematic cannabis use one year later, and this relationship was primarily explained by using cannabis to cope with emotional distress.
Mental health professionals, addiction counselors, and researchers studying the relationship between trauma and substance use.
Coping motives linked trauma to problematic use; sleep motives did not
What the researchers found
Coping motives uniquely mediated the association between multiple types of childhood trauma (physical abuse, neglect, sexual trauma) and problematic cannabis use one year later. Emotional and physical abuse were also associated with pain motives, and sexual abuse with sleep motives. Using cannabis for coping and attention/focus was associated with more problematic use, while using it for sleep was associated with less problematic use.
Why it matters
Understanding why trauma leads to problematic cannabis use (through coping motives specifically) identifies a targetable mechanism for prevention, rather than simply warning trauma survivors not to use cannabis.
The numbers in context
339 participants followed for one year. Coping motives mediated the trauma-to-problematic-use pathway across physical abuse, neglect, and sexual trauma. Sleep motives were inversely associated with problematic use.
How the study worked
Longitudinal study of 339 medical cannabis patient and non-patient young adult users from Los Angeles, assessed at baseline and one year later. Mediation analysis examined how cannabis use motives connected childhood trauma to problematic use, controlling for age, socioeconomic status, perceived stress, and baseline problematic use.
What this study cannot tell us
Self-report data. Los Angeles sample may not generalize. Medical and non-medical users combined. Cannot rule out other mediating variables. Problematic use measures may overlap with coping behaviors.
How to read the evidence
Longitudinal design with one-year follow-up and appropriate statistical controls, but self-report and single-city sample.
When this study was published
Published in 2022.
The bigger picture
The finding that sleep-motivated cannabis use was associated with less problematic use while coping-motivated use predicted more problems suggests that why someone uses cannabis may matter more than whether they use it.
Questions still open
- Could teaching alternative coping skills reduce problematic cannabis use in trauma survivors? Should screening for trauma and use motives be standard in cannabis-related healthcare? Why is sleep-motivated use protective?
Common questions
Does childhood trauma lead to problematic cannabis use?
Are all reasons for using cannabis equally risky?
Read the original research
Coping Motives Mediate the Association of Trauma History with Problematic Cannabis Use in Young Adult Medical Cannabis Patients and Non-Patient Cannabis Users.
Substance use & misuse, 57(5), 684-697
Citation
Brammer, Whitney A; Conn, Bridgid M; Iverson, Ellen; Lankenau, Stephen E; Dodson, Chaka; Wong, Carolyn F. (2022). Coping Motives Mediate the Association of Trauma History with Problematic Cannabis Use in Young Adult Medical Cannabis Patients and Non-Patient Cannabis Users.. Substance use & misuse, 57(5), 684-697. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2026970
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