Young Adults at Psychosis Risk Describe What Makes Quitting Cannabis Hard
Qualitative interviews with 20 young adults at risk for psychosis revealed that coping motives, social pressure, and ambivalence about change are the biggest barriers to reducing cannabis use.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Five key barriers to reducing cannabis emerged: using cannabis to cope, social influences, dependence symptoms, easy access, and ambivalence about change. Four facilitators included experiencing negative consequences, focusing on personal motivation, social support, and building coping skills.
Key Numbers
20 participants, 60% female, all at high risk for psychosis. Five barrier themes and four facilitator themes identified through thematic analysis.
How They Did This
Qualitative study with surveys and individual interviews of 20 young adults (60% female) at clinical high risk for psychosis who use cannabis, analyzed through thematic analysis.
Why This Research Matters
Cannabis use disorder is especially common among young people at risk for psychosis, yet few interventions are tailored to this vulnerable group. Understanding their specific barriers is essential for designing effective tools.
The Bigger Picture
The overlap between cannabis use and psychosis risk is well established, but most quit-support tools are generic. This study provides the kind of user-centered insight needed to build interventions that actually work for high-risk populations.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Small qualitative sample limits generalizability. Self-selected participants may be more motivated to quit than the broader population. Single site study.
Questions This Raises
- ?Would a mobile app built on these findings actually reduce cannabis use in this population?
- ?How do psychosis symptoms specifically interact with cannabis quit attempts?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Coping, social pressure, and ambivalence are the top barriers to quitting for psychosis-risk youth
- Evidence Grade:
- Small qualitative study provides rich insights but cannot quantify effect sizes or generalize broadly.
- Study Age:
- 2025 study informing mobile intervention development for a high-risk population.
- Original Title:
- Qualitative interviews with young adults at risk for psychosis and who use Cannabis: Informing the development of a mobile intervention.
- Published In:
- Addictive behaviors, 161, 108216 (2025)
- Authors:
- Merrill, Jennifer E, Moitra, Ethan, Giorlando, Kayla, Olsen, Elizabeth M, Leigland, Avery, Abrantes, Ana M, Whiteley, Laura
- Database ID:
- RTHC-07125
Evidence Hierarchy
Uses interviews or focus groups to understand experiences in depth.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it hard for people at psychosis risk to quit cannabis?
This study found they face unique challenges including using cannabis to cope with distressing symptoms, strong social influences to keep using, dependence symptoms, easy access, and deep ambivalence about whether quitting is worth it.
Could a phone app help young people at psychosis risk reduce cannabis use?
Participants said they want personalized features including goal setting, self-monitoring, coping skills training, and affirming messages. Whether such an app works remains to be tested.
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Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-07125APA
Merrill, Jennifer E; Moitra, Ethan; Giorlando, Kayla; Olsen, Elizabeth M; Leigland, Avery; Abrantes, Ana M; Whiteley, Laura. (2025). Qualitative interviews with young adults at risk for psychosis and who use Cannabis: Informing the development of a mobile intervention.. Addictive behaviors, 161, 108216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108216
MLA
Merrill, Jennifer E, et al. "Qualitative interviews with young adults at risk for psychosis and who use Cannabis: Informing the development of a mobile intervention.." Addictive behaviors, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108216
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Qualitative interviews with young adults at risk for psychos..." RTHC-07125. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/merrill-2025-qualitative-interviews-with-young
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.