Anxiety, Expectancies for Cannabis-Induced Anxiolytic Effects, and Frequency of Cannabis Consumption

Abstract

This study explored relations among anxiety, expectancies for cannabis’s anxiolytic effects, and frequency of use. Undergraduate users (N=242, Mage = 19.1, 64.5% male, 46.6% White, 18.6% African American, 13% Hispanic/Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.1% Mixed) rated their anxiety on the TSC-40. They reported expectancies for cannabis’s anxiolytic effects using the same TSC items with a rating from -2 (making the symptom worse) to +2 (making the symptom better). Average expectancies were 2.41, suggesting that users expected some impact of cannabis on anxiety symptoms. These expectancies showed a dramatic skew that required transformation. We regressed anxiety and expectancies and their centered interaction term on days of use per month. Expectancies (B=.917) served as a significant predictor, however anxiety did not (B=.215). The interaction term was not significant, (B=.155). These results suggest that users choose the number of days they use based on their expectations of cannabis-induced improvement of anxiety, not on their level of anxiety. The interaction was not an important contributor. These results suggest that alternative approaches for handling anxiety might decrease the frequency of cannabis consumption. In addition, challenging cannabis expectancies about anxiety could also decrease frequency of consumption.