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Cannabis use is a known risk factor for a range of mental health problems, but less is known on the association with general mental health. We aim to explore the relationship between cannabis use and general mental health. We did a cross-sectional online survey of 1,929 young adults aged 18-30 years. Participants reported socio-demographic data, substance use and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). Monthly cannabis use was associated with a higher total score on the SCL-90, both in a crude (OR 1.94, 95 % CI 1.57-2.38) and fully adjusted model (OR 1.48, 95 % CI 1.07-2.03). The association between cannabis and mental health was stronger in women and weekly users, and was independent of age at first use of cannabis. We conclude that moderate cannabis use is associated with general mental health problems in young adulthood. This relationship is independent of age at first use and of other risk factors, and is strongest in women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundCannabis use is associated with increased risk for psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and psychotic disorders. It remains unclear whether this relationship is causal or due to confounding.MethodA total of 1929 young adults aged 18–30 years participated in a nationwide internet-based survey in The Netherlands and gave information on demographics, substance use and parental psychiatric illness and completed the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE).ResultsCigarette smoking and cannabis use were equally strongly associated with the frequency of PLEs in a fully adjusted model (β = 0.098 and 0.079 respectively, p < 0.05). Cannabis use was associated with distress from PLEs in a model adjusted for an elaborate set of confounders excluding smoking (β = 0.082, p < 0.05). However, when cigarette smoking was included in the model, cannabis use was not a significant predictor of distress from PLEs. Cigarette smoking remained associated with distress from PLEs in a fully adjusted model (β = 0.107, p < 0.001).ConclusionsSmoking is an equally strong independent predictor of frequency of PLEs as monthly cannabis use. Our results suggest that the association between moderate cannabis use and PLEs is confounded by cigarette smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BackgroundAlthough the association between cannabis use and a wide range of psychiatric symptoms is fairly well established, it is not clear whether cannabis use is also a risk factor for general mental health problems at secondary school.MethodA total of 10 324 secondary school children aged 11–16 years, participating in an ongoing Public Health Service School Survey, gave information on demographics, substance use, school factors and stressful life events and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).ResultsCannabis use in the past month was associated with a clinically relevant score on the SDQ [unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 4.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.46–5.76]. Other risk factors associated with poor psychosocial functioning were: a low level of education, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, hard drug use, frequent truancy, an unfavourable school evaluation, feeling unsafe at school, being victimized, frequent absence due to illness, a mentally ill parent, molestation by a parent, financial problems and feeling distressed by an adverse event. In a full model adjusting for these risk factors, cannabis was not significantly associated with mental health problems, although an association at trend level was apparent. Of these risk factors, regular alcohol use, cigarette smoking, hard drug use, frequent truancy, an unfavourable school evaluation and frequent absence due to illness were also associated with cannabis use.ConclusionsThe association between cannabis use and poor psychosocial functioning in adolescence is due, at least in part, to confounding by other risk factors. Thus, cannabis use can best be viewed as an indicator of risk for mental health problems in adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To prospectively assess the relationship between cannabis use and psychotic experiences over time. Method In a longitudinal design, young adults aged 18-27 years (N = 705) gave online information on cannabis use and completed the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE). These measures were repeated after an interval ranging from six months to five years. Results A decrease in cannabis use was associated with a decrease in total psychotic experiences (β = - 0.096, p = 0.01) after adjustment for a range of potential confounders. An increase in cannabis use was associated with increased positive symptoms at follow-up (β = 0.07, p = 0.02), but was not significantly associated with increases in Negative and Depression symptom scores, nor with the total number of psychotic experiences. Conclusion In the first study to the association of change in cannabis use and psychotic experiences over time in the general population, we found an association between changes in cannabis use and changes in the frequency of psychotic experiences. While this does not prove a causal relationship between cannabis use and psychosis, our findings are consistent with studies suggesting that cessation of cannabis use may be beneficial in terms of reducing psychotic experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]