Development and Initial Psychometric Properties of the Cannabidiol Outcome Expectancies Questionnaire (CBD-OEQ)

Abstract

In the United States, a growing number of adults are using products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid marketed as a treatment for a large number of medical and mental health conditions, despite limited support for the efficacy of CBD for these conditions. Identification of CBD-related outcome expectancies (i.e., beliefs concerning the anticipated effects of using CBD) could be useful in understanding the etiology and maintenance of CBD use. Although there are several measures of cannabis outcome expectancies, no known CBD-specific outcome expectancy measure exists. The current study used a three phase, mixed methods approach to develop and test the initial psychometric properties of the Cannabidiol Outcome Expectancy Questionnaire (CBD-OEQ). In Phase I, an initial item pool was generated via individual interviews. In Phase II, the initial item pool was expanded via literature search and evaluated by a review panel. In Phase III, the final pool of 133 items was administered to a sample of 600 adults who endorsed having heard of or used CBD products. The CBD-OEQ assessed both probability ratings (i.e., likelihood of an expectancy occurring) and desirability ratings (i.e., how desirable an expectancy is). Phase III factor analyses supported a 60-item, six-factor structure (i.e., positive mood, global negative effects, pain relief, sleep, harm reduction, and no effect). Tests of the psychometric properties provide initial support for internal consistency and convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of the CBD-OEQ subscales. Desirability ratings explained minimal additional variance in CBD variables for most subscales but moderated the relationship between probability ratings and CBD variables for the Global Negative Effects and No Effect subscales. The newly developed CBD-OEQ could help identify current non-users who are at risk for initiating CBD use and current users who are at risk for engaging in frequent or heavy CBD use.