Does personality predict negative cannabis consequences among United States adults who use cannabis daily?

Background: Research mostly among college students has identified sensation seeking and impulsivity as personality traits associated with negative cannabis-related consequences (NCRC). Risk for NCRC is also heightened among individuals who use cannabis daily. Given the increase of legal access to cannabis, continued research is necessary to determine antecedents to NCRC, particularly among high-risk populations. The present study examined sensation seeking, impulsivity, and NCRC relations to determine if previously identified associations extend to community adults with daily legal cannabis use.

Methods: Community adults (N=51) participated in a research event as part of a larger study that assessed personality, cannabis use, and related outcomes. We used negative binomial regression to evaluate associations between sensation seeking facets, impulsivity facets, and NCRC. 

Results: Positive urgency was negatively related to NCRC (IRR=0.77, p=.04), and risk seeking was positively associated with NCRC (IRR=1.27, p=.03). All other personality facets were not significantly associated with NCRC. 

Conclusions: While some relations between sensation seeking, impulsivity, and NCRC were upheld among adults with daily legal use, others were not. This suggests findings from other samples do not necessarily generalize to this population. Continued research should continue to identify predictors of NCRC among individuals who use cannabis daily.