Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study.
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To determine whether cannabis use in adolescence predisposes to higher rates of depression and anxiety in young adulthood. Design: Seven wave cohort study over six years. Setting: 44 schools in the Australian state of Victoria. Participants: A statewide secondary school sample of 1601 students aged 14-15 followed for seven years. Main outcome measure: Interview measure of depression and anxiety (revised clinical interview schedule) at wave 7. Results: Some 60% of participants had used cannabis by the age of 20; 7% were daily users at that point. Daily use in young women was associated with an over fivefold increase in the odds of reporting a state of depression and anxiety after adjustment for intercurrent use of other substances (odds ratio 5.6, 95% confidence interval 2.6 to 12). Weekly or more frequent cannabis use in teenagers predicted an approximately twofold increase in risk for later depression and anxiety (1.9, 1.1 to 3.3) after adjustment for potential baseline confounders. In contrast, depression and anxiety in teenagers predicted neither later weekly nor daily cannabis use. Conclusions: Frequent cannabis use in teenage girls predicts later depression and anxiety, with daily users carrying the highest risk. Given recent increasing levels of cannabis use, measures to reduce frequent and heavy recreational use seem warranted. What is already known on this topic: Frequent recreational use of cannabis has been linked to high rates of depression and anxiety in cross sectional surveys and studies of long term users Why cannabis users have higher rates of depression and anxiety is uncertain Previous longitudinal studies of cannabis use in youth have not analysed associations with frequent cannabis use What this study adds: A strong association between daily use of cannabis and depression and anxiety in young women persists after adjustment for intercurrent use of other substances Frequent cannabis use in teenage girls predicts later higher rates of depression and anxiety Depression and anxiety in teenagers do not predict later cannabis use; self medication is therefore unlikely to be the reason for the association
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Girls seem more susceptible than boys to develop adult depression if they smoke cannabis in adolescence.
“moreover, girls seem more susceptible than boys to develop adult depression if they smoke cannabis in adolescence.15”
From Association of Cannabis Use in Adolescence and Risk of Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidality in Young Adulthood (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
The “Cannabis in adolescence and depression in young adults” section reports a significant interaction between sex and weekly-or-more-frequent teenage cannabis use, with higher later risk in girls. The claim omits two limits: the finding concerns frequent use, not any cannabis use, and the measured outcome is depression and anxiety together, not depression alone. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSome of the detrimental effects of cannabis on behavior seem more pronounced in females in both animals and humans, although this finding remains controversial.
“Some of the detrimental effects of cannabis on behavior seem more pronounced in females in both animals 19 and humans, 15 although this finding remains controversial.”
From Association of Cannabis Use in Adolescence and Risk of Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidality in Young Adulthood (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
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- Authors
- Patton, G. C., Coffey, C., Carlin, J. B., Degenhardt, L., Lynskey, M., & Hall, W.
- Affiliations
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute (AU)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2002-11-23
- Volume
- 325
- Issue
- 7374
- Pages
- 1195.1-1198
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC135489
- OpenAlex
- W2126292939
- Cited by
- 997
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 74 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 42
- FWCI
- 21.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Keywords
- cannabis use, adolescent cannabis use, depression, anxiety, young adults, daily cannabis use, adolescent girls, mental health, substance use, self-medication, school-based cohort
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety Disorders, Marijuana Abuse, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Victoria, Cohort Studies, Prevalence
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