The Association Between Recreational Cannabis Use and 24-hour Movement Behaviours: Perceptions of Youth Citizen Scientists.

Introduction: The prevalence of cannabis use among youth is rising globally, making it crucial to understand its role in health and well-being. While cannabis use is linked to various health outcomes, evidence on its relationship with 24-h movement behaviours (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep) in youth is limited. This study uses a digital citizen science approach to examine these associations among Canadian youth aged 13 to 21 years.

Methods: As a part of the Smart Platform, a digital citizen science initiative for ethical population health surveillance and policy interventions, this study engaged with 208 youth citizen scientists from Saskatchewan, Canada (August to December 2018). Participants used their smartphones to report moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, substance use, mental health, and sociodemographic data over eight consecutive days. Linear regression models assessed associations between cannabis use and 24-h movement behaviours. Sedentary behaviour was further stratified into recreational screen time and other sedentary behaviour to explore distinct relationships with cannabis use.

Results: After adjusting for age, gender, parental education, and school, cannabis use was associated with higher hours/day of sedentary behaviour in the overall (β = 8.92, 95% CI = 1.11, 16.72; p-value = 0.02) and weekend models (β = 5.32, 95% CI = 0.89, 9.75; p-value = 0.02). Cannabis use was also associated with higher recreational screen time in both overall (β = 4.65, 95% CI = 0.19, 9.13; p-value = 0.04) and weekend models (β = 2.70, 95% CI = 0.08, 5.32; p-value = 0.04).

Conclusions: These findings need to be confirmed with longitudinal studies to develop holistic population health interventions focusing on policy solutions to address complex negative behaviours among youth.