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Associations of childhood sociability and responsibility with cannabis use trajectories during adolescence: results from a prospective population-based birth cohort study

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Abstract

This study aims to identify distinct trajectories of cannabis use during adolescence and examine whether Sociability (ability to relate to others) and Responsibility (ability to integrate a community setting) during childhood are associated with these trajectories, accounting for individual and familial confounders. Population-based cohort study (1998–2019): 1511 children from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development were followed between ages 5 months and 19 years. We identified developmental trajectories of adolescent cannabis use (assessed biyearly between ages 12 and 19 years) using a group-based trajectory model. We performed multinomial regression analyses to estimate the association between childhood Sociability and Responsibility assessed yearly between ages 6 and 12 years, and cannabis use trajectories. At 19 years, 62.8% (807/1286) of adolescents had used cannabis at least once in their lifetime, 44.2% had used at least once in the past 12 months (504/1140), and 6.8% were reporting daily use (77/1140). We identified three cannabis use trajectories: nonusers (n = 577, 38.2%), late users (n = 690, 45.7%; mean age of initiation: 16.2 ± 1.6), and early users (n = 244, 16.2%; mean age of initiation: 14.1 ± 1.3). Compared with Nonusers, children with low Sociability had a lower risk for late (OR, 0.43; 95 CI 0.27; 0.68) and early (OR, 0.22; 95 CI 0.12; 0.41) cannabis use. Children with low Responsibility were at higher risk of being Early users (OR, 2.23; 95 CI 1.13; 4.37) but not Late users (OR, 1.20; 95 CI 0.71; 2.03). Understanding the multiple dimensions of social skills and their association with cannabis use trajectories may help improve the effectiveness of evidence-based prevention strategies.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank all participating families for their continued commitment to the study.

Funding

The Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD) was supported by funding from the Québec Government’s Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Family Affairs, The Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, the Robert-Sauvé Research Institute of Health and Security at Work, and the Québec Statistics Institute (ISQ). Additional funding was received by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec—Santé (FRQS), the Fonds de Recherche du Québec—Societé et Culture (FRQSC), the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the St Justine Research Centre. The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under REA grant agreement n. PCOFUND-GA-2013–609102, through the PRESTIGE program coordinated by Campus France; the MILDECA (Mission Minsitérielle de Lutte contre les Drogues et Conduites Addictives); the University of Auvergne; the CMG (Collège de la Médecine Générale de France).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Médecine Générale, UFR de Médicine, 7280, Université Clermont Auvergne, 28 Place Henri Dunant, 63001, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Catherine Laporte

  2. CHU Ste-Justine Research Center, 3175, ch. de La Côte Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC, H3T 1C5, Canada

    Catherine Laporte, Chadi Nicholas, Natalie Castellanos-Ryan, Jean R. Séguin, Qian Xu, Frank Vitaro & Richard Tremblay

  3. University Hospital Clermont-Ferrand, Biostatistics Unit (Innovation and Clinical Research), 58 rue Montalembert, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Catherine Laporte & Bruno Pereira

  4. McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, 845 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC, H3A 0G4, Canada

    Orri Massimilliano

  5. Bordeaux Population Health Research Centre, Inserm U1219, Université de Bordeaux, 146 rue Léo Saignat CS, 61292, Bordeaux, France

    Orri Massimilliano & Sylvana M. Côté

  6. Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre, 3175 Ch de la Côte Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC, H3T 1C5, Canada

    Chadi Nicholas

  7. School of Psychoeducation, Université de Montréal, 90, av. Vincent-d’Indy, Montréal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada

    Natalie Castellanos-Ryan & Frank Vitaro

  8. Service de Psychiatrie B et d’addictologie, CHU Clermont-Ferrand, 58 rue Montalembert, 63003, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Georges Brousse

  9. Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, GRIP, 2900, Boul. Édouard-Montpetit, Montreal, QC, H3T 1J4, Canada

    Jean R. Séguin

  10. Department of Pediatrics and Psychology, University of Montreal, GRIP, 2900, Boul. Édouard-Montpetit, Montreal, H3T 1J4, Canada

    Richard Tremblay

  11. School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Richard Tremblay

  12. School of Psychology, Laval University, 2325, rue des Bibliothèques, Quebec, QC, Canada

    Michel Boivin

  13. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Sylvana M. Côté

Authors
  1. Catherine Laporte
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  2. Bruno Pereira
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  3. Orri Massimilliano
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  4. Chadi Nicholas
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  5. Natalie Castellanos-Ryan
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  6. Georges Brousse
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  7. Jean R. Séguin
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  8. Qian Xu
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  9. Frank Vitaro
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  10. Richard Tremblay
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  11. Michel Boivin
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  12. Sylvana M. Côté
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by CL, BP, MO, QX and SC. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Catherine Laporte and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. SC and CL have full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sylvana M. Côté.

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Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The QLSCD protocol was approved by the Quebec Statistics Institute and St Justine University Hospital’s Research Center ethics committee. Written informed consent was obtained for all participants.

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Laporte, C., Pereira, B., Massimilliano, O. et al. Associations of childhood sociability and responsibility with cannabis use trajectories during adolescence: results from a prospective population-based birth cohort study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 31, 959–967 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01730-9

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