Citation

Mills R, Kisely SR, Alati R, Strathearn L, Najman JM. Arch. Sex. Behav. 2016; 112(3): 494-501.

Affiliation

Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre, University of Queensland, Level 2, Public Health Building, School of Public Health, Herston, Queensland, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1111/add.13634

PMID

27741369

Abstract

AIMS: To investigate whether: (1) child maltreatment is associated with lifetime cannabis use, early onset cannabis use, daily cannabis use and DSM-IV cannabis abuse in young adulthood; and (2) behaviour problems, tobacco use and alcohol use at 14 are associated with cannabis use.

DESIGN: Birth cohort using linked government agency child protection data to define exposure to child maltreatment. SETTING: The Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy in Brisbane, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Of the original cohort of 7223 mother and child pairs, obtained from consecutive presentations for prenatal care at a hospital serving a cross-section of the community, 3778 (52.3%) of the young people participated at age 21. MEASUREMENTS: Exposure to child maltreatment was established by substantiated government agency reports. Cannabis outcomes were by self-report questionnaire and CIDI-Auto at age 21. Associations were adjusted for a range of potential confounders. Additional adjustment was carried out for variables measured at age 14 - youth behaviour problems (Achenbach CBCL), tobacco use and alcohol use.

FINDINGS: After adjustment, substantiated child maltreatment was associated with any lifetime cannabis use (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.39), cannabis use prior to age 17 (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.67 to 3.65), daily cannabis use (OR 2.68, OR 1.49 to 4.81) and DSM IV cannabis abuse/dependence (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.07 to 2.77). Externalizing behaviour, and tobacco and alcohol use at age 14 were significantly associated with almost all cannabis outcomes (p < 0.05), with internalizing behaviour inversely associated (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Children in Australia who are documented as having been maltreated are more likely to go on to use cannabis before the age of 17, use cannabis as an adult, use cannabis daily, and meet DSM-IV criteria for cannabis dependence. Externalizing behaviour in adolescence appears partly to mediate the association with adult cannabis use.

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Language: en