Among 204 Oregon adolescents tracked over 12 months in a legal cannabis state, perceiving more peer cannabis use and having lower resistance to peer influence predicted increasing hazardous cannabis use over time.
Adolescent prevention program designers, school counselors, and cannabis policy researchers in legal states
204 teens tracked over 12 months in legal cannabis state
What the researchers found
Individual increases in hazardous cannabis use were significantly associated with higher peer norms (perceiving more peer use) and lower resistance to peer influence. Between-adolescent differences in hazardous use were associated only with peer norms. Past-month cannabis use was associated with peer norms but not resistance to peer influence.
Why it matters
In states where cannabis is legal for adults, understanding the cognitive and social factors that drive adolescent use can help design targeted prevention programs.
The numbers in context
204 adolescents ages 15-19 (mean 18.68, 67% female); 12-month follow-up with 4 time points; peer norms and resistance to peer influence both predicted within-person changes in hazardous use; only peer norms predicted between-person differences
How the study worked
Longitudinal study of 204 adolescents aged 15-19 in the Portland, Oregon area (legal recreational cannabis state) who endorsed at least one heavy drinking episode. Data collected across four time points over 12 months, analyzed with multilevel latent growth curve modeling.
What this study cannot tell us
Participants were all heavy drinkers so may not represent all adolescents; single metropolitan area in one state; self-reported peer norms and substance use; relatively small sample; 67% female
How to read the evidence
Longitudinal design with sophisticated multilevel modeling, but limited by sample recruited for heavy drinking and single geographic area.
When this study was published
2024 study
The bigger picture
The finding that both peer norms and individual resistance to peer pressure independently predicted hazardous use suggests prevention efforts need to address both the social environment and individual skills.
Questions still open
- Would interventions targeting resistance to peer influence reduce hazardous cannabis use? How do peer norms around cannabis differ in legal versus non-legal states?
Common questions
What predicted hazardous cannabis use in teens?
Does this matter more in states where cannabis is legal?
Read the original research
Multilevel associations of peer cognitive factors and adolescent cannabis use in a legal recreational cannabis region.
Frontiers in psychiatry, 15, 1477000
Citation
Kenyon, Emily A; Yang, Manshu; Chung, Tammy; Wilson, Anna C; Feldstein Ewing, Sarah W. (2024). Multilevel associations of peer cognitive factors and adolescent cannabis use in a legal recreational cannabis region.. Frontiers in psychiatry, 15, 1477000. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1477000
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