Rural Young Adults May Use More Cannabis Due to Lower Social Status and Emotion Struggles
Rural young adults reported lower subjective social status, and a pathway from rurality through lower social status and emotion dysregulation to hazardous cannabis use was identified.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Rural participants reported significantly lower subjective social status (SSS) than urban peers. While rural-urban differences in cannabis use were not statistically significant, serial mediation analysis found an indirect pathway from rurality to hazardous cannabis use through lower SSS and greater emotion dysregulation (b=0.06, 95% CI: 0.002-0.16).
Key Numbers
N=400 young adults. Rural participants had significantly lower SSS. Rural-urban cannabis use differences nonsignificant. Indirect mediation effect: b=0.06 (95% CI: 0.002-0.16) from rurality through SSS and emotion dysregulation to hazardous cannabis use.
How They Did This
Cross-sectional online survey of 400 young adults nationally. Measured rurality, subjective social status, emotion dysregulation, and cannabis use patterns. Serial mediation analysis tested the SSS-emotion dysregulation pathway.
Why This Research Matters
Rural communities are often overlooked in substance use research. Identifying that perceived social status and emotional regulation difficulties may drive cannabis use in rural areas points to specific intervention targets.
The Bigger Picture
The role of subjective social status (how people perceive their position relative to others) as a predictor of cannabis risk highlights that economic inequality and perceived disadvantage may drive substance use independently of objective poverty measures.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Cross-sectional design. Self-selected online sample. Small effect size for the mediation pathway. Rural-urban cannabis use differences were not significant directly. SSS is a single-item measure.
Questions This Raises
- ?Would improving perceived social status in rural communities reduce cannabis use?
- ?Do emotion regulation interventions work differently in rural versus urban settings?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Rurality predicted hazardous cannabis use through lower subjective social status and emotion dysregulation
- Evidence Grade:
- Small cross-sectional study with a novel but marginally significant mediation pathway. Requires replication.
- Study Age:
- 2025 publication.
- Original Title:
- Cannabis Use in Rural and Urban Young Adults: The Role of Subjective Social Status and Emotion Dysregulation.
- Published In:
- Substance use & misuse, 60(14), 2270-2279 (2025)
- Authors:
- K, Rathod, P, Goodhines
- Database ID:
- RTHC-06779
Evidence Hierarchy
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-06779APA
K, Rathod; P, Goodhines. (2025). Cannabis Use in Rural and Urban Young Adults: The Role of Subjective Social Status and Emotion Dysregulation.. Substance use & misuse, 60(14), 2270-2279. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2025.2540936
MLA
K, Rathod, et al. "Cannabis Use in Rural and Urban Young Adults: The Role of Subjective Social Status and Emotion Dysregulation.." Substance use & misuse, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2025.2540936
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Cannabis Use in Rural and Urban Young Adults: The Role of Su..." RTHC-06779. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/k-2025-cannabis-use-in-rural
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.