Adolescents who use cannabis could face a significantly higher risk of developing serious psychiatric disorders by young adulthood, according to a large new study published today in JAMA Health Forum. The longitudinal study followed 463,396 adolescents ages 13 to 17 through age 26 and found that past-year cannabis use during adolescence was associated with a significantly higher risk of incident psychotic (doubled), bipolar (doubled), depressive and anxiety disorders.
The study analyzed electronic health record data from routine pediatric visits between 2016 and 2023. Cannabis use preceded psychiatric diagnoses by an average of 1.7 to 2.3 years. The study’s longitudinal design strengthens evidence that adolescent cannabis exposure is a potential risk factor for developing mental illness.
Unlike many prior studies, the research examined any self-reported past-year cannabis use, with universal screening of teens during standard pediatric care, rather than focusing only on heavy use or cannabis use disorder.
The study also found that cannabis use was more common among adolescents enrolled in Medicaid and those living in more socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods, raising concerns that expanding cannabis commercialization could exacerbate existing mental health disparities.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2845356
Thank you.
Maybe someone can tell if this is peer reviewed and if this is actually published in a reputable journal and also what’s the agenda of the institutes funding this.
Lot to ask I guess but I have 0 clue about this field and don’t really know how seriously I should take this
It’s the journal of the American Medical Association, it’s a peer reviewed journal and it’s as reputable as scientific journals come. the author affiliations are listed at the top of the article if you click the dropdown:
There’s a real link between cannabis use and some mental illnesses, this isn’t the first paper to make that connection. What that connection is and whether cannabis use among children is causing mental illness is still AFAIK an open question. There are, according to my psychiatrist, conflicting data on whether cannabis makes depression worse or better. It seems to help for me, so I continue to use it with their supervision and advice, but I also know people who quit cannabis and felt better as a result, so I think if you use it and have one of these illnesses, it’s worth running your own trials to determine whether it’s helping or hurting.
Hit the “article information” link and lots of that is spelled out there
It’s not. They disclose the conflict of interest and source of funding part but that doesn’t tell me who the funding sources are and what’s their agenda? I only have this question because I read the article information.
Also this doesn’t tell me anything about journal ranking, I don’t even know if this is a proper journal, let alone if it’s peer reviewed. If you drop a link to the Lancet it’s cool I know it, I’m still not going to abandon my critical thinking but I will give the benefit of the doubt.
It’s not so much that I necessarily think their findings are implausible or anything, it’s just that I want to discuss science in a scientific way in a science community, and those are normal things to ask.
I don’t care because you don’t care. I’m not interested in hearing all your thoughts on this subject when you can’t be bothered to research on your own.