Cannabis Use in Patients Seeking Therapy for Anxiety and Related Disorders: A Descriptive Study
Bibliographic record
Abstract
ABSTRACT Objectives: The present study describes patterns of cannabis use, motives for use, and the relationship between cannabis use and problematic alcohol use in a large sample of individuals seeking treatment for anxiety and related disorders at a specialized outpatient clinic in a Canadian hospital. Methods: Seven hundred ninety-six participants (n = 308 cannabis users; n = 488 cannabis nonusers) completed questionnaires examining patterns of cannabis use, severity of cannabis and alcohol use, and level of psychological distress before receiving any treatment at a specialty anxiety clinic. Results: Of the total sample, 39% reported using cannabis in the past 6 months and 43% of cannabis users endorsed using cannabis multiple times per week, primarily via smoking joints. Twenty-two percent of cannabis users exceeded the cutoff score on a validated screening tool for Cannabis Use Disorder. A significant small positive correlation was found between cannabis use severity and level of psychological distress. Commonly reported motives for use included sleep, mental health concerns, and chronic pain, suggesting that cannabis may be used to broadly manage distress. Alcohol and cannabis use severity were not significantly correlated; however, cannabis users were significantly more likely to abuse alcohol than cannabis nonusers. Conclusions: These findings are congruent with previous research that has demonstrated a positive association between anxiety symptoms and cannabis use. Cannabis use is prevalent in those seeking therapy for anxiety and related disorders and is associated with several indicators of psychological distress. These results are in line with the tension-reduction model of cannabis use. Objectifs: Cette étude décrit les modèles de consommation de cannabis, les motifs de consommation et la relation entre consommation de cannabis et consommation problématique d’alcool chez un large échantillon de personnes cherchant un traitement pour l’anxiété et les troubles connexes dans une clinique externe spécialisée située dans un hôpital canadien. Méthodes: Sept cent quatre-vingt-seize participants (n = 308 consommateurs de cannabis; n = 488 non-utilisateurs de cannabis) ont rempli des questionnaires examinant les habitudes de consommation de cannabis, la gravité de leur consommation d’alcool et de cannabis et leur niveau de détresse psychologique avant de suivre un traitement dans une clinique spécialisée sur l’anxiété. Résultats: Sur l’ensemble de l’échantillon, 39% ont déclaré avoir consommé du cannabis au cours des 6 derniers mois et 43% des consommateurs de cannabis ont déclaré en consommer plusieurs fois par semaine, principalement via des joints de cannabis. Vingt-deux pour cent des consommateurs de cannabis ont dépassé le score seuil sur un outil valide de dépistage du trouble du cannabis. Une faible corrélation positive a été observée entre la sévérité de l’usage de cannabis et le niveau de détresse psychologique. Les motifs d’usage déclarés comprennent le sommeil, des problèmes de santé mentale et une douleur chronique, ce qui suggère que le cannabis pourrait être utilisé pour gérer la détresse dans son ensemble. La gravité de la consommation d’alcool et de cannabis n’était pas corrélée de manière significative; Cependant, les consommateurs de cannabis étaient beaucoup plus susceptibles de consommer de l’alcool que les non-consommateurs de cannabis. Conclusions: Ces résultats sont en accord avec les recherches antérieures qui ont démontré une association positive entre les symptômes d’anxiété et la consommation de cannabis. La consommation de cannabis est répandue chez ceux qui recherchent un traitement contre l’anxiété et les troubles connexes et est associée à plusieurs indicateurs de détresse psychologique. Ces résultats sont conformes au modèle de réduction de stress grâce à la consommation de cannabis.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".