Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of the current study was to investigate the association between anxiety and cannabis use/cannabis use disorders in the general population.MethodsA total of N = 267 studies were identified from a systematic literature search (any time- March 2013) of Medline and PsycInfo databases, and a hand search. The results of 31 studies (with prospective cohort or cross-sectional designs using non-institutionalised cases) were analysed using a random-effects meta-analysis with the inverse variance weights. Lifetime or past 12-month cannabis use, anxiety symptoms, and cannabis use disorders (CUD; dependence and/or abuse/harmful use) were classified according to DSM/ICD criteria or scores on standardised scales.ResultsThere was a small positive association between anxiety and either cannabis use (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.06-1.45, p = .006; N = 15 studies) or CUD (OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.23-2.31, p = .001; N = 13 studies), and between comorbid anxiety + depression and cannabis use (OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.17-2.40, p = .004; N = 5 studies). The positive associations between anxiety and cannabis use (or CUD) were present in subgroups of studies with ORs adjusted for possible confounders (substance use, psychiatric illness, demographics) and in studies with clinical diagnoses of anxiety. Cannabis use at baseline was significantly associated with anxiety at follow-up in N = 5 studies adjusted for confounders (OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.06-1.54, p = .01). The opposite relationship was investigated in only one study. There was little evidence for publication bias.ConclusionAnxiety is positively associated with cannabis use or CUD in cohorts drawn from some 112,000 non-institutionalised members of the general population of 10 countries.
Highlights
The aim of the current study was to investigate the association between anxiety and cannabis use/ cannabis use disorders in the general population
According to three separate meta-analyses summarised in Table 4, there was a small positive association between anxiety/no anxiety vs. cannabis use/no use, anxiety/no anxiety vs. cannabis use disorders (CUD)/no CUD, anxiety + depression/no diagnosis vs. cannabis use/
Publication bias analyses Publication bias refers to an overestimation of the overall mean weighted effect size in meta-analysis due to inclusion of studies based on large sample sizes and/or large effect sizes [57]
Summary
The aim of the current study was to investigate the association between anxiety and cannabis use/ cannabis use disorders in the general population. The most frequent of these diagnoses were different subtypes of anxiety disorders. Such an extreme increase in observed especially among the younger adults (18–34 years of age) during the challenging phase of life associated with establishment of professional career paths and long-term relationships/family [3]. The Australian data (from The National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing) suggest that more females (32%) than males (20%) experience anxiety disorders (especially the posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD) in their lifetime [5]
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