Association between marijuana use and cognitive development: Relevance for dual systems

Abstract

Marijuana use has been found to cause dysfunctional cognitive development, particularly when use occurs during adolescence. However, there is a dearth of research that has examined marijuana use as a predictor of development related to the dual systems model. Further, the possibility that effects of marijuana use on dual systems development may be age-graded remains unexamined also. The present study sought to address these gaps in the literature by using a series of mixed effects models and analyzing the Pathways to Desistance dataset; comprised of a sample of 1354 justice-involved youth. Results indicated that more above average marijuana use frequency was associated with above average imbalance in dual systems constructs at the next wave of data collection as predicted. This effect did not differ in salience by age. These findings indicate that programming to reduce marijuana use may facilitate healthier cognitive development related to dual systems imbalance.