Childhood sexual abuse, early cannabis use, and psychosis: Testing the effects of different temporal orderings based on the National Comorbidity Survey

Abstract

Research has shown that childhood sexual abuse and cannabis use below the age of 16 significantly increased the risk of psychosis. The aim of this study was to estimate the effects of the different temporal ordering of exposure to cannabis and sexual trauma on psychosis. Data from the National Comorbidity Survey were used to construct a variable representing different exposures (no sexual trauma or cannabis use, sexual trauma only, cannabis use only, sexual trauma preceded cannabis use, cannabis use preceded sexual trauma). A hierarchical binary logistic regression model was specified with a diagnosis of psychosis as the dependent variable, background variables entered in the first block and the sexual trauma and cannabis use variable entered in the second block. The results indicated that sexual trauma with no cannabis use increased the risk of psychosis (OR=2.45, p<.05), and the risk increased for cannabis use before (OR=4.39, p<.05) or after (OR=4.25, p<.05) sexual trauma. The findings are discussed with reference to the existing research literature on the development of psychosis symptoms.