Abstract
Background
Black adults who use cannabis appear at risk for poor cannabis-related outcomes, indicating a need to identify psycho-sociocultural factors related to cannabis use and related problems. This study tested whether race-based microaggressions are related to use-related problems and whether specific types of negative affect (depression, anxiety, stress) and/or high-risk use motives play a role in this relationship.
Methods
Participants were 125 (78.4% female) Black undergraduates who endorsed current cannabis use and completed an online survey.
Results
Microaggressions were significantly related to cannabis use-related problems, depression, anxiety, stress, and coping and conformity cannabis use motives. Microaggressions remained significantly related to cannabis problems after controlling for overt discrimination, non-racist stressful life events, and cannabis use frequency. Microaggressions were indirectly related to cannabis use-related problems via the serial effects of negative affect (anxiety, depression, stress) and coping motives and via singular effects of anxiety and stress (but not the serial effects of negative affect and conformity motives).
Conclusions
Race-based microaggressions are robustly related to more cannabis-related problems and negative affect and cannabis use to manage that affect may play important roles in that relation. Results can inform theoretical models and intervention efforts geared toward reducing risky cannabis use in this health disparities group.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
26 June 2023
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-023-10402-8
References
Antony, M. M., Bieling, P. J., Cox, B. J., Enns, M. W., & Swinson, R. P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in clinical groups and a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 10(2), 176–181. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.10.2.176
Brantley, P. J., & Jones, G. N. (1989). Daily stress inventory: Professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources Inc.
Buckner, J. D., Zvolensky, M. J., & Scherzer, C. R. (in press). Alcohol-related problems among Black adults: The role of false safety behaviors. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-022-01286-7
Buckner, J. D., Bonn-Miller, M. O., Zvolensky, M. J., & Schmidt, N. B. (2007). Marijuana use motives and social anxiety among marijuana-using young adults. Addictive Behaviors, 32(10), 2238–2252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2007.04.004
Buckner, J. D., Crosby, R. D., Wonderlich, S. A., & Schmidt, N. B. (2012). Social anxiety and cannabis use: An analysis from ecological momentary assessment. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25(1), 297–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.12.006
Buckner, J. D., Jeffries, E. R., Terlecki, M. A., & Ecker, A. H. (2016a). Distress tolerance among students referred for treatment following violation of campus cannabis use policy: Relations to use, problems, and motivation. Behavior Modification, 40(5), 663–677. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445515610315
Buckner, J. D., Morris, P. E., Ferrie, M. L., & Scherzer, C. R. (2023a). Social anxiety and alcohol use and related problems among black adults: Differential roles of motives by sex. Substance Use & Misuse, 58(1), 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2137813
Buckner, J. D., Shah, S. M., Dean, K. E., & Zvolensky, M. J. (2016b). Cannabis use frequency and use-related impairment among African-American and white users: The impact of cannabis use motives. Ethnicity and Health, 21(3), 318–331. https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2015.1065311
Buckner, J. D., Threeton, E. M., Morris, P. E., & Stoneking, F. R. (2023b). Sexual orientation and cannabis outcomes among Black individuals: The role of cannabis use motives. Addictive Behaviors. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107635
Chabrol, H., Ducongé, E., Casas, C., Roura, C., & Carey, K. B. (2005). Relations between cannabis use and dependence, motives for cannabis use and anxious, depressive and borderline symptomatology. Addictive Behaviors, 30(4), 829–840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2004.08.027
Chapman, L. J., & Chapman, J. P. (1983). Infrequency Scale. Unpublished test.
Cohen, A. S., Iglesias, B., & Minor, K. S. (2009). The neurocognitive underpinnings of diminished expressivity in schizotypy: What the voice reveals. Schizophrenia Research, 109, 38–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2009.01.010
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dean, K. E., Ecker, A. H., & Buckner, J. D. (2017). Anxiety sensitivity and cannabis use-related problems: The impact of race. The American Journal on Addictions, 26(3), 209–214. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.12511
Dogan, J. N., Thrasher, S., Thorpe, S. Y., Hargons, C., & Stevens-Watkins, D. (2021). Cultural race-related stress and cannabis use among incarcerated African American men. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 35(3), 320–325. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000694
Garber, J., & Hollon, S. D. (1991). What can specificity designs say about causality in psychopathology research? Psychological Bulletin, 110(1), 129–136.
Greene, M. L., Way, N., & Pahl, K. (2006). Trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents: Patterns and psychological correlates. Developmental Psychology, 42(2), 218–236. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.218
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. The Guilford Press.
Kenny, D. A. (2021). Mediation. Retrieved May 10 from http://davidakenny.net/cm/mediate.htm
King, V. L., Mrug, S., & Windle, M. (2022). Predictors of motives for marijuana use in African American adolescents and emerging adults. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 21(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332640.2020.1747038
Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Lanaway, D., & Burlew, A. K. (2021). The influence of distressed coping on the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and cannabis use among Black college students. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2021.1990443
Landrine, H., & Klonoff, E. A. (1996). The schedule of racist events: A measure of racial discrimination and a study of its negative physical and mental health consequences. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 144–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984960222002
Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (2nd ed.). Psychology Foundation.
Lui, P. P. (2020). Racial microaggression, overt discrimination, and distress: (In)direct associations with psychological adjustment. The Counseling Psychologist, 48(4), 551–582. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000020901714
Metzger, I. W., Salami, T., Carter, S., Halliday-Boykins, C., Anderson, R. E., Jernigan, M. M., & Ritchwood, T. (2018). African American emerging adults’ experiences with racial discrimination and drinking habits: The moderating roles of perceived stress. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(4), 489–497. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000204
Nadal, K. L. (2011). The Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS): Construction, reliability, and validity. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 470–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025193
Pacek, L. R., Malcolm, R. J., & Martins, S. S. (2012). Race/ethnicity differences between alcohol, marijuana, and co-occurring alcohol and marijuana use disorders and their association with public health and social problems using a national sample. The American Journal on Addictions, 21(5), 435–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1521-0391.2012.00249.x
Pro, G., Sahker, E., & Marzell, M. (2018). Microaggressions and marijuana use among college students. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 17(3), 375–387. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332640.2017.1288191
Schwartz, S., & Meyer, I. H. (2010). Mental health disparities research: The impact of within and between group analyses on tests of social stress hypotheses. Social Science and Medicine, 70(8), 1111–1118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.11.032
Simons, J. S., Correia, C. J., Carey, K. B., & Borsari, B. E. (1998). Validating a five-factor marijuana motives measure: Relations with use, problems, and alcohol motives. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45(3), 265–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.45.3.265
Stephens, R. S., Roffman, R. A., & Curtin, L. (2000). Comparison of extended versus brief treatments for marijuana use. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(5), 898–908. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.68.5.898
Su, J., Kuo, S. I. C., Derlan, C. L., Hagiwara, N., Guy, M. C., & Dick, D. M. (2020). Racial discrimination and alcohol problems among African American young adults: Examining the moderating effects of racial socialization by parents and friends. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(2), 260–270. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000294
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2020a). 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: African Americans. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt31099/2019NSDUH-AA/AfricanAmerican%202019%20NSDUH.pdf
Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. M. B., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271
Vaeth, P. A. C., Wang-Schweig, M., & Caetano, R. (2017). Drinking, alcohol use disorder, and treatment access and utilization among U.S. racial/ethnic groups. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 41(1), 6–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.13285
Wu, L.-T., Zhu, H., & Swartz, M. S. (2016). Trends in cannabis use disorders among racial/ethnic population groups in the United States. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 165, 181–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.06.002
Funding
Dr. Buckner receives funding from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program (Grant D40HP33350) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R21AA030071). The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
JDB and MJZ contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data analyses were performed by JDB. Data collection was performed by CRS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JDB and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interest
Julia D. Buckner, Michael J. Zvolensky and Caroline R. Scherzer that they have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Ethical Approval
This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Louisiana State University (4/9/2021, IRBAM-21-0404).
Consent to Participate
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study prior to data collection.
Consent to Publication
Not applicable.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Buckner, J.D., Zvolensky, M.J. & Scherzer, C.R. Microaggressions and Cannabis-Related Problems Among Black Adults: The Roles of Negative Affect and Cannabis Use Motives. Cogn Ther Res (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-023-10375-8
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-023-10375-8