No Evidence-Based Intervention Effectively Reduces Cannabis Use in Young Adults With Psychosis, Review Finds
A scoping review found that no intervention has been proven to effectively reduce cannabis use in young adults with psychosis, though motivational interviewing, CBT, and family skills training show at least minimal evidence.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Young adults with psychosis use cannabis for pleasure, to reduce dysphoria, and for social reasons. Motivations for cessation include insight about cannabis-psychosis interactions, incompatibility with goals, and social support. Interventions with at least minimal evidence include motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral strategies, and family skills training. No intervention has demonstrated robust effectiveness in this population.
Key Numbers
3,216 articles screened. 46 included. Use motivations: pleasure, dysphoria reduction, social/recreational. Cessation motivations: insight about cannabis-psychosis link, goal incompatibility, social support. Motivational interviewing, CBT, and family skills training have minimal evidence.
How They Did This
Scoping review with systematic literature search in December 2022. Screened 3,216 titles/abstracts and 136 full texts, resulting in 46 included articles on motivations for use/cessation and psychosocial interventions.
Why This Research Matters
Cannabis use in young adults with psychosis is extremely common and associated with worse outcomes, yet clinicians have no proven intervention to offer. Understanding why this population uses cannabis and what motivates them to stop could inform better-designed interventions.
The Bigger Picture
The treatment gap for cannabis use in psychosis is striking given how common and harmful the combination is. The review suggests future interventions should be matched to specific motivations: behavioral activation for pleasure-seeking, family interventions for social support, and motivational approaches for building insight.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Scoping review cannot assess intervention quality as rigorously as a systematic review. Heterogeneous study designs. Many studies had small samples. Publication bias may favor positive results.
Questions This Raises
- ?Would interventions matched to specific use motivations be more effective?
- ?Can family-based approaches leverage social networks that motivate cessation?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- No evidence-based intervention proven effective for cannabis reduction in youth with psychosis
- Evidence Grade:
- Comprehensive scoping review of 46 articles, limited by heterogeneous study quality and lack of robust evidence for any intervention.
- Study Age:
- Published 2023.
- Original Title:
- Scoping Review of Cannabis-Reduction Psychosocial Interventions and Reasons for Use among Young Adults with Psychosis.
- Published In:
- Journal of dual diagnosis, 19(2-3), 124-150 (2023)
- Authors:
- Petros, Ryan(3), Walker, Denise D(6), Pierce, Adam, Monroe-DeVita, Maria
- Database ID:
- RTHC-04850
Evidence Hierarchy
Maps out the available research on a broad question.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Why do young people with psychosis use cannabis?
This review found they use cannabis for pleasure, to reduce negative feelings, and for social reasons. They are motivated to stop when they understand the cannabis-psychosis connection and when it conflicts with their goals.
What treatments help reduce cannabis use in psychosis?
No intervention has been proven robustly effective. Motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral strategies, and family skills training show the most promise but need more research.
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Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-04850APA
Petros, Ryan; Walker, Denise D; Pierce, Adam; Monroe-DeVita, Maria. (2023). Scoping Review of Cannabis-Reduction Psychosocial Interventions and Reasons for Use among Young Adults with Psychosis.. Journal of dual diagnosis, 19(2-3), 124-150. https://doi.org/10.1080/15504263.2023.2226024
MLA
Petros, Ryan, et al. "Scoping Review of Cannabis-Reduction Psychosocial Interventions and Reasons for Use among Young Adults with Psychosis.." Journal of dual diagnosis, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/15504263.2023.2226024
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Scoping Review of Cannabis-Reduction Psychosocial Interventi..." RTHC-04850. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/petros-2023-scoping-review-of-cannabisreduction
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.