Cognitions mediate the influence of personality on adolescent cannabis use initiation

AIMS: Much research indicates that an individual’s personality impacts the initiation and escalation of substance use and problems in youth. The acquired-preparedness model suggests that personality influences substance use by modifying learning about substances, which then affects substance use. The current study used longitudinal data to test whether automatic cannabis-related cognitions (memory associations and outcome expectancy liking) mediate the relationship between four personality traits with later cannabis use. METHODS: The study focused on initiation of use in a sample of adolescents who had not previously used (n = 670). RESULTS: A structural equation model supported a full mediation effect and the hypothesis that personality affects cannabis use in youth by influencing automatic memory associations and outcome expectancy liking. Further findings from the same model also indicated a mediation effect of these cognitions in the relationship between age and cannabis use. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study support the acquired-preparedness model where personality influences automatic associations in the context of dual-processing theories of substance use.