Personality may explain the association between cannabis use and neuropsychological impairment
Open accessAbstract
In a recent issue of PNAS, Meier et al. (1) used a prospective cohort of 1,037 New Zealanders followed from birth to age 38 y to show that the relationship between cannabis use and cognitive impairment cannot be attributed to precannabis-use differences in intelligence. However, important omitted “third” variables, such as stable individual differences in personality traits, could potentially cause both drug use and changes in intelligence. For instance, a negative relationship between cannabis use and neuropsychological performance may be explained by low conscientiousness, which could lead to substance dependence (2) and poor performance on neuropsychological tests (2, 3). Personality traits could also explain positive noncausal associations between cannabis use and cognitive functioning. For example, high levels of openness to experience could lead people to seek out activities that promote cognitive functioning and could also condition the initiation of cannabis use (4). It is, therefore, critical to consider whether personality traits may confound the cannabis–intelligence link.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Failing to include between-person variation in personality may result in a non-causal association.
“A study on the association between cognitive impairments and cannabis use suggested that failing to include between‐person variation in personality may result in a non‐causal association (Daly, 2013).”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
1 retracted
RETRACTED: Role of test motivation in intelligence testing
Duckworth, A. L., Quinn, P. D., Lynam, D. R., Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1018601108 · Cited by 344 · see citing works
RetractedA gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety
Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., Houts, R., Poulton, R., Roberts, B. W., Ross, S., et al. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1010076108 · Cited by 4,885 · see citing works
Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife
Meier, M. H., Caspi, A., Ambler, A., Harrington, H., Houts, R., Keefe, R. S. E., McDonald, K., Ward, A., Poulton, R., & Moffitt, T. E. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1206820109 · Cited by 1,523 · see citing works
Douglas, J. W. B. (2023) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003387350-7 · Cited by 463 · see citing works
The home and the school : a study of ability and attainment in the primary school
Douglas, J. W. B. (1964) · MacGibbon & Kee eBooks · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Stimulation seeking and intelligence: A prospective longitudinal study.
Raine, A., Reynolds, C. A., Venables, P. H., & Mednick, S. A. (2002) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.4.663 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Scott, J. C., Slomiak, S. T., Jones, J. D., Rosen, A. F. G., Moore, T. M., & Gur, R. C. (2018) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.0335 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
Cannabis and adolescent brain development.
Lubman, D. I., Cheetham, A., & Yücel, M. (2015) · Pharmacology & Therapeutics · doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2014.11.009 · Cited by 360 · see citing works
“However, it has subsequently been argued that the association between early cannabis use and decline in cognitive functions observed by Meier and colleagues could have been confounded by other variables, including socio-economic status (Rogeberg, 2013) and personality (Daly, 2013).”
Evidence for the Risks and Consequences of Adolescent Cannabis Exposure
Levine, A., Clemenza, K., Rynn, M., & Lieberman, J. (2017) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.12.014 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Allan, J., McMinn, D., & Daly, M. (2016) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2016.00386 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
“…impairment in humans requires further research as most studies to date have not adjusted for potential confounding factors that could predispose people to both drug use and cognitive decline (e.g., family environment, personality traits, genetic factors) (Daly, 2013; Jackson et al., 2016).”
BackgroundSelf-citationConsidering Marijuana Legalization: Insights for Vermont and Other Jurisdictions
Caulkins, J. P., Kilmer, B., R.Kleiman, M. A., MacCoun, R. J., Midgette, G., Oglesby, P., Pacula, R. L., & Reuter, P. (2015) · RAND Corporation eBooks · doi:10.7249/rr864 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Schulte, M. H. J., Cousijn, J., den Uyl, T. E., Goudriaan, A. E., van den Brink, W., Veltman, D. J., Schilt, T., & Wiers, R. W. H. J. (2014) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2014.08.002 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
“However, others have claimed that the findings of Meier et al., (2012) were confounded by differences in socioeconomic status (Rogeberg, 2013) and/or personality (Daly, 2013).”
BackgroundImplications of Marijuana Legalization for Adolescent Substance Use
Hopfer, C. (2014) · Substance Abuse · doi:10.1080/08897077.2014.943386 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Gorey, C. M., Kuhns, L., Smaragdi, E., Kroon, E., & Cousijn, J. (2019) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s00406-019-00981-7 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Altered resting-state connectivity in adolescent cannabis users
Orr, C., Morioka, R., Behan, B., Datwani, S., Doucet, M. V., Ivanović, J., Kelly, C. A. M., Weierstall, K., Watts, R., Smyth, B. P., et al. (2013) · The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse · doi:10.3109/00952990.2013.848213 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
“[27, 17, 25] (represented in Figure 2), right inferior semilunar lobe of the cerebellum [48, 63, 26] (represented”
BackgroundScott, J. C., Wolf, D. H., Calkins, M. E., Bach, E. C., Weidner, J., Ruparel, K., Moore, T. M., Jones, J. D., Jackson, C. T., Gur, R. E., et al. (2017) · Psychology of Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1037/adb0000268 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“Moreover, deficits may reflect shared causal pathways between cannabis use and correlated sociobehavioral factors (Daly, 2013; Hooper et al., 2014; Rogeberg, 2013).”
Which medications are suitable for agonist drug maintenance?
Darke, S. G., & Farrell, M. (2015) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.13158 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Moffitt, T. E., Meier, M. H., Caspi, A., & Poulton, R. (2013) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1300618110 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Reply to Moffitt et al.: Causal inference from observational data remains difficult
Røgeberg, O. J. (2013) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1301881110 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Drug law reform, performativity and the politics of childhood
Flacks, S. (2017) · International Journal of Drug Policy · doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.10.003 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Personality Traits and Psychotic Proneness Among Chronic Synthetic Cannabinoid Users
Cohen, K., Rosenzweig, S., Rosca, P., Pinhasov, A., Weizman, A., & Weinstein, A. M. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00355 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Poulton, R., Robertson, K., Boden, J. M., Horwood, L. J., Theodore, R. F., Potiki, T., & Ambler, A. P. (2020) · Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand · doi:10.1080/03036758.2020.1750435 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
“Finally, the ability to adjust for multiple potential confounders has been limited in other studies, or simply misunderstood (see for example Daly 2013; Moffitt et al. 2013; Rogeberg 2013).”
BackgroundAjmera, N. B., Collins, P. F., Weiss, H., & Luciana, M. M. (2021) · Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society · doi:10.1017/s1355617721000631 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
“Critics suggested that the findings were due to confounding SES and personality factors (Daly, 2013; Rogeberg, 2013) as well as sample size attenuation over time.”
BackgroundBoccio, C. M., & Beaver, K. M. (2017) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.04.007 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
WHY NOT POT?: A Review of the Brain-based Risks of Cannabis.
MacDonald, K. S., & Pappas, K. (2016) · PubMed Central · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Soyka, M., Preuss, U. W., & Hoch, E. (2017) · Der Nervenarzt · doi:10.1007/s00115-017-0281-7 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.013 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Kassim, F. M. (2023) · Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental · doi:10.1002/hup.2856 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“A study on the association between cognitive impairments and cannabis use suggested that failing to include between‐person variation in personality may result in a non‐causal association (Daly, 2013).”
BackgroundConsidering Marijuana Legalization
Caulkins, J. P., Kilmer, B., R.Kleiman, M. A., MacCoun, R. J., Midgette, G., Oglesby, P., Pacula, R. L., & Reuter, P. (2015) · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Do Differences in Learning Performance Precede or Follow Initiation of Marijuana Use?
Barthelemy, O. J., Richardson, M. A., Heeren, T., Chen, C. A., Liebschutz, J. M., Forman, L. S., Cabral, H., Frank, D. A., & Jacobs, R. R. (2019) · Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs · doi:10.15288/jsad.2019.80.5 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Other research has found that personality (particularly, openness to experience) may mediate positive associations between marijuana use and cognitive function (Daly, 2013); perhaps later initiators in our sample reflect this pattern.”
BackgroundDuncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Nabilone Impairs Spatial and Verbal Working Memory in Healthy Volunteers
Kassim, F. M., Tod, S., Rodger, J., Hood, S. D., Lee, J. W. Y., Albrecht, M. A., & Martin-Iverson, M. T. (2022) · Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research · doi:10.1089/can.2022.0099 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“77 Studies have also highlighted that schizotypy 78,79 or other personality traits 80,81 are generally associated with natural cannabis or synthetic cannabinoid use.”
Associations between big five personality dimensions and lifetime use of cannabis
Jain, T., Patriquin, M. A., & Sanches, M. (2024) · American Journal on Addictions · doi:10.1111/ajad.13668 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Le cannabis et ses effets délétères : pour un débat plus nuancé
Jobidon, L., & Jutras‐Aswad, D. (2018) · Drogues santé et société · doi:10.7202/1044306ar · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Certains ont argumenté que la présence de facteurs confondants comme le statut socioéconomique (Rogeberg, 2013) ou les traits de personnalité (Daly, 2013) pour-raient expliquer en partie cette relation, ce qui a toutefois été subséquemment réfuté par d’autres auteurs (Moffitt, Meier, Caspi et…”
BackgroundMahoney, J. J., Bryant, K. R., & Haut, M. W. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-14895-9_32 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Associations Between Cannabis, Psychosis, and Schizophrenia in Adolescents
Moment, L., null, N., null, N., & null, N. (2022) · Academic Leadership Journal in Student Research · doi:10.58809/dbkn1868 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Cannabis Users and Premorbid Intellectual Quotient
Ferraro, L., Sideli, L., & Barbera, D. L. (2017) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800756-3.00026-0 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Substance Use Disorders: A Biopsychosocial Perspective
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · ODU Digital Commons (Old Dominion University) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Psychiatric Disorders, Personality, and Developmental Factors
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.009
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.015
Use Disorders of Cocaine and Methamphetamine
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.014
Is Marijuana Safer than Alcohol? Insights from Users’ Self-Reports
Caulkins, J. P. (2018) · Figshare · doi:10.1184/r1/6471623
Tranquilizers and Sedative Use Disorders
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.016
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.018
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.001
The Biopsychosocial Perspective and Research Methods for Investigation of Substance Use Disorders
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.002
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.010
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.004
Genetic Influence on Substance Use Disorders
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.007
Brain Function and Substance Use Disorders
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.006
Tobacco Use and Nicotine Addiction
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.012
Behavioral, Cognitive, and Social Factors Promoting SUD
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.008
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.005
Diagnosis of Substance Use Disorders
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.003
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.011
Treatment of Substance Use Disorders
Duncan, P. M. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139025515.017
Kassim, F. M., Davey, A. J. W., Tod, S., Rodger, J., Albrecht, M. A., & Martin-Iverson, M. T. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-02280-9
“…personality scores or the degree of PLE (such as schizotypy) may influence the effects of cannabis, and exploring the impact of cannabinoids on psychometric scores and the association between individual differences in psychometric scores (personality traits) and cannabis use is valuable 31 .”
- Authors
- Daly, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Stirling (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Daly, Michael
- ORCID
- Daly, Michael
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2013-03-04
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- E979-E979
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3600473
- OpenAlex
- W2035074318
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (Maynooth University) (acceptedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Keywords
- cannabis use, personality, neuropsychological deficits, cognitive function, personality traits
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Marijuana Smoking, Mental Processes
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
