2026-05-13T22:23:22Z https://www.peertechzpublications.org/oai-pmh

oai:www.peertechzpublications.org:10.17352/2455-5460.000015 2017-03-21 PTZ.ADA:VOL3

Association between Cannabis use, Depression and Apathy: A Study of an Internet Community Sample of Young Adults Géraldine DorardManon Cebron de Lisle<p>The trait of amotivation is commonly clinically described among chronic cannabis abusers but few empirical studies have provided data on this dimension. Thus, our objective was to&nbsp; determine to what extent apathy, evaluated in a multidimensional approach, is associated&nbsp; with cannabis use and misuse in a community sample of young adults. 677 participants with&nbsp; a&nbsp; mean age of&nbsp; 20.5&nbsp; years completed several web-formatted self-reports including the Lille Apathy Rating Scale (LARS) adapted to a self-report format (LARS-SR) and the 13-item&nbsp; Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-13). Participants were asked about&nbsp; their use of cannabis and, if appropriate, the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) was completed. The problematic&nbsp; CU&nbsp; according&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; CAST&nbsp; presented&nbsp; higher&nbsp; scores&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; LARS-SR&nbsp; total score,&nbsp; LARS-SR &nbsp; subscales&nbsp; “intellectual&nbsp; curiosity”,&nbsp; “emotion”,&nbsp; and&nbsp; “action&nbsp; initiation”&nbsp; and&nbsp; he&nbsp; BDI-13&nbsp; in&nbsp; comparison&nbsp; with &nbsp; non-problematic users. Regression analyses revealed that both apathy and depression were significant predictors&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; CAST&nbsp; categories&nbsp; (non-symptomatic&nbsp; vs.&nbsp; moderate/severe).&nbsp; Despite some limitations, our study about the impairment of motivational functioning provides some new insight into the clinical implications of problematic patterns of cannabis use. Indeed, apathy was associated with both cannabis use and more severe patterns of cannabis use as evaluated with the CAST. The use of a scale investigating apathy as a multidimensional construct reveals that&nbsp; only&nbsp; some&nbsp; apathy&nbsp; dimensions seem involved in cannabis misuse independently of depression. </p> Archives of Depression and Anxiety - Peertechz Publications 2017-03-21 Research Article https://doi.org/10.17352/2455-5460.000015 en Copyright © Géraldine Dorard et al.