Expectancies about the effects of cannabidiol products on anxiety symptoms

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Nearly one-third of American adults receive an anxiety disorder diagnosis in their lifetimes. Although evidence-based anxiety interventions exist, these treatments might have limited availability and efficacy. Though preliminary evidence supports the use of cannabidiol (CBD) to alleviate anxiety, no prior work investigates individuals’ expectancies about CBD’s impact on anxiety. Methods The present study examines relevant anxiety symptoms and expectancies about CBD’s effects in a sample of 455 CBD-using adults recruited from Amazon’s MTurk platform. Results Participants reported moderate anxiety without the influence of CBD. Moreover, they expected global and symptom-level anxiolytic effects of CBD. Anxiety scores positively covaried with usual cannabis intoxication, providing support for a self-medication hypothesis. Results revealed a positive relation between anxiety symptoms and expectancies about CBD’s anxiolytic properties; those who were most anxious expected more CBD-related relief. CBD consumption decreased as age increased, but showed little variation with other demographic variables. Conclusions Overall, individuals appear to hold positive expectancies about CBD’s anxiolytic potential. Results support placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials for CBD as an anxiolytic.