Exploring the Mediational Role of Coping Motives for Marijuana Use in Terms of the Relation between Anxiety Sensitivity and Marijuana Dependence

Abstract

This study evaluated the prediction that coping motives for marijuana use would mediate the relation between anxiety sensitivity and a marijuana dependence diagnosis after controlling for other co-occurring marijuana use motives. Participants were 136 current marijuana users (47.1% women; M(age)= 21.9, SD = 7.2). Results were consistent with a mediational effect, with the relation between anxiety sensitivity and marijuana dependence being explained by the addition of coping motives into the model. These results provide novel information related to the putative explanatory role of coping motives for marijuana use in the relation between anxiety sensitivity and marijuana dependence.