Differences in Marijuana Motivations, Use, and Consequences among 2- and 4-year College Students

Abstract

Purpose: As marijuana laws in the U.S. have become more liberal, marijuana use among college students has increased (Schulenberg et al., 2020). While nearly 40% of college students in the U.S. attend 2-year institutions, little is known about marijuana use and risk factors for use among 2-year students relative to 4-year students. College-aged adults that use marijuana report many motivations for use (e.g., enhancement, conformity, coping motives) which are related to both the frequency of use and the likelihood of experiencing related consequences (Lee et al., 2009). This study examines differences in marijuana motivations, use, and consequences between 2- and 4- year college students and tests whether college status moderates associations between marijuana motives and marijuana outcomes. Method: Participants included a sample of 1402 undergraduate students (35% 2-year; 59% female) aged 18-25 (M=20.53, SD=1.72) who completed a screening survey for a longitudinal study examining alcohol expectancies and use. Participants reported past-month motives for marijuana use, number of occasions of past-month and past-year marijuana use, and two marijuana-related consequences (i.e., number of times they drove to/from campus high and/or attended class high). Independent sample t-tests were conducted to assess mean differences between 2- and 4-year students in marijuana use and consequences, and also motives for use, including social, enhancement, conformity, coping, and boredom motives. Controlling for gender, age, college status, and academic quarter, Poisson regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between marijuana motives and use and negative binomial regression analyses were conducted to examine links between marijuana motives and consequences. Subsidiary analyses examined if links between marijuana motives and outcomes were moderated by college status. Results: On average, participants reported using marijuana 6-9 times in the past month (SD=1.79) and 10-19 times in the past year (SD=1.61). Over 15% (n=213) reported they had driven to/from campus high at least once and 40% (n=565) reported they had attended class high. Relative to 4-year students, 2-year students reported greater past-month and past-year marijuana use, and were more likely to have driven to/from campus high and to have attended class high (ps<.05). Two-year students reported greater coping motives but decreased social and conformity motives compared to 4-year students (ps<.05). In regression analyses controlling for co-variates, enhancement, boredom, and coping motives were associated with increased past-month and past-year marijuana use, whereas social and conformity motives were associated with decreased past-month and past-year use (ps<.05). Coping and boredom motives were positively associated with driving to/from campus high and coping and enhancement motives were positively associated with attending class high (ps<.05). In tests of moderation, associations between coping, boredom, and conformity motives and driving to/from campus high were more pronounced for 2-year relative to 4-year students. Conclusions: Two-year students endorsed marijuana motives differently than 4-year students and reported greater marijuana use and marijuana-related consequences. Two-year status moderated associations between motives and driving to or from campus high and 2-year students were more likely than 4-year students to endorse coping motives for using marijuana. As such, marijuana and mental health interventions targeting 2-year college students are needed.