Hser YI, et al. – The topic of inspection here was the association between reductions in cannabis use and changes in anxiety, depression, sleep quality and quality of life. The findings established a longitudinal link between these aspects. Clinicians treating patients with co–occurring cannabis use and problems with anxiety, depression, or sleep quality ought to give attention to cannabis use reduction as a component of the therapy.

Methods

• Data was cumulated from a cannabis use disorder medication trial in 302 adults (ages 18-50).
• Analysis was performed of the variations in symptoms of anxiety and depression, sleep quality, and quality of life, in association with the changes in cannabis use during the 12-week trial of treatment.

Results

• On the basis of the slope of individual cannabis use trajectory, the sample was classified into two groups (Cannabis Use Reduction, n = 152 vs. Cannabis Use Increase, n = 150).
• It was incorporated as a binary covariate in subsequent modeling.
• Controlling for demographics (age, gender, race/ethnicity), treatment condition, and time-varying tobacco and alcohol use, separate latent growth curve models illustrated a prominent correlation between the Cannabis Use Reduction group and improvement (i.e., lower values in slope) in anxiety (β = -0.09, SE = 0.04; p < 0.05), depression (β -0.11, SE = 0.04; p < 0.01), and sleep quality (β = -0.07, SE = 0.03; p < 0.05) over the observation period, but not in quality of life.