Relations between dissociative experiences, borderline personality disorder symptoms and cannabis use in adolescents and young adults

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relations between cannabis use, dissociative experiences and borderline personality disorder symptoms. A convenient sample of 212 subjects composed of high school students completed questionnaires assessing cannabis use frequency, the symptoms of dependence, the symptoms of dissociation and borderline personality disorder using the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES) completed by a subscale measuring hyper-personalization/hyper-realization experiences and the Borderline Personality Inventory (BPI), respectively; 114 (54%) were cannabis users. Multiple regression analyses showed that the frequency of cannabis use was negatively predicted by the frequency of spontaneous experiences of absorption and imaginative involvement and positively predicted by the frequency of experiences of absorption and hyper-personalization and hyper-realization linked to cannabis use. Cannabis dependence was predicted only by borderline personality symptoms. Positive dissociative experiences appear to be an important element in the understanding of cannabis use in adolescents and young adults.