The 'grass ceiling': Limitations in the literature hinder our understanding of cannabis use and its consequences
- Authors: Temple, Elizabeth , Brown, Rhonda , Hine, Donald
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Addiction Vol. 106, no. 2 (2010), p. 238-244
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Aim: To illustrate how limitations in the cannabis literature undermine our ability to understand cannabis-related harms and problems experienced by users and identify users at increased risk of experiencing adverse outcomes of use. Method and results: Limitations have been organized into three overarching themes. The first relates to the classification systems employed by researchers to categorize cannabis users, their cannabis use and the assumptions on which these systems are based. The second theme encompasses methodological and reporting issues, including differences between studies, inadequate statistical control of potential confounders, the under-reporting of effect sizes and the lack of consideration of clinical significance. The final theme covers differing approaches to studying cannabis use, including recruitment methods. Limitations related to the nature of the data collected by researchers are discussed throughout, with a focus on how they affect our understanding of cannabis use and users. Conclusions: These limitations must be addressed to facilitate the development of effective and appropriately targeted evidence-based public health campaigns, treatment programmes and preventative, early intervention and harm minimization strategies, and to inform cannabis-related policy and legislation. © 2010 The Authors, Addiction © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.
The grassy knoll...and an elephant
- Authors: Temple, Elizabeth , Brown, Rhonda , Hine, Donald
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Addiction Vol. 106, no. 2 (2011), p. 251-252
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
A comparison of internet-based participant recruitment methods : Engaging the hidden population of Cannabis users in research
- Authors: Temple, Elizabeth , Brown, Rhonda
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Research Practice Vol. 7, no. 2 (2011), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: While a growing number of researchers are embracing Internet-based data collection methods, the adoption of Internet-based recruitment methods has been relatively slow. This may be because little is known regarding the relative strengths and weaknesses of different methods of Internet-based participant recruitment, nor how these different recruitment strategies impact on the data collected. These issues are addressed in this article with reference to a study comparing the effectiveness of three Internet-based strategies in recruiting cannabis users for an online study. Consideration of the recruitment data leads us to recommend that researchers use multipronged Internet-based recruitment campaigns with appropriately detailed recruitment messages tailored to the population of interest and located carefully to ensure they reach the intended audience. Further, we suggest that building rapport directly with potential participants, or utilising derived rapport and implicit endorsements, is an important aspect of successful Internet-based participant recruitment strategies. © 2011 Journal of Research Practice and the author.
Cannabis use and anxiety : Is stress the missing piece of the puzzle?
- Authors: Temple, Elizabeth , Driver, Matthew , Brown, Rhonda
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Psychiatry Vol. 5, no. (2014), p. 1-13
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: Comorbidity between anxiety and cannabis use is common yet the nature of the association between these conditions is not clear. Four theories were assessed, and a fifth hypothesis tested to determine if the misattribution of stress symptomology plays a role in the association between state-anxiety and cannabis. Methods: Three-hundred-sixteen participants ranging in age from 18 to 71 years completed a short online questionnaire asking about their history of cannabis use and symptoms of stress and anxiety. Results: Past and current cannabis users reported higher incidence of lifetime anxiety than participants who had never used cannabis; however, these groups did not differ in state-anxiety, stress, or age of onset of anxiety. State-anxiety and stress were not associated with frequency of cannabis use, but reported use to self-medicate for anxiety was positively associated with all three. Path analyses indicated two different associations between anxiety and cannabis use, pre-existing and high state-anxiety was associated with (i) higher average levels of intoxication and, in turn, acute anxiety responses to cannabis use; (ii) frequency of cannabis use via the mediating effects of stress and self-medication. Conclusion: None of the theories was fully supported by the findings. However, as cannabis users reporting self-medication for anxiety were found to be self-medicating stress symptomology, there was some support for the stress-misattribution hypothesis. With reported self-medication for anxiety being the strongest predictor of frequency of use, it is suggested that researchers, clinicians, and cannabis users pay greater attention to the overlap between stress and anxiety symptomology and the possible misinterpretation of these related but distinct conditions. © 2014 Temple, Driver and Brown.