Adolescent-Limited Cannabis Use and Developmental Delay

Persistent heavy cannabis use in adolescence has been linked to a number of adverse outcomes in adult transitions, especially in the domains of educational attainment and career development. Given demonstrated risks of... [ view full abstract ]

Persistent heavy cannabis use in adolescence has been linked to a number of adverse outcomes in adult transitions, especially in the domains of educational attainment and career development. Given demonstrated risks of persistent adolescent use, the question of potential mitigating or rescuing factors arises. There is some previous work on the impact of cessation after adolescence; however, much of this work focuses on cessation or decrease in use much after the end of adolescence, usually focusing around the age of 25 or later. This study examines the cessation of use at or after the age of 20, with the aim of evaluating the effect of cessation directly after adolescence. We use data drawn from longitudinal studies at the University of Colorado through the Center for Antisocial Drug Dependence. These studies include twin samples, family samples, and individuals recruited from treatment and juvenile justice facilities, aiming to incorporate both community and clinical samples for a broad look at the impacts of adolescent cannabis use. Several use groups have been defined from these samples, including persistent (almost daily or more use before and after the age of 20), adolescent-limited (weekly or more frequent use before the age of 20; monthly or less frequent use after the age of 20), abstainer (no initiation before or after 20), late-bloomer (initiation only after the age of 20), and chippers (less than weekly use before and after the age of 20). We present results on adult transition variables such as highest level of education, number years of education, finishing high school, finishing university or trade school, finishing post-undergraduate education, still in school, ever employed, job type, income, income source, fulltime employment, relationship status, relationship satisfaction, and number of children, controlling for covariates such as age, sex, other drug and substance use, arrest and imprisonment, and pregnancy.