Abstract
Objectives
Previous research cites mindfulness as a protective factor against risky substance use, but the specific association between dispositional mindfulness (DM) and cannabis use has been inconsistent. Despite known heterogeneity of DM facets across college students, much of the prior research in this area has relied on variable-centered approaches. Only a handful of prior studies within the cannabis literature have utilized person-centered approaches, and only one has specifically examined unique profiles of dispositional mindfulness in relation to patterns of use among college students.
Method
The present study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subtypes of DM and their relationships with cannabis use behaviors (i.e., hazardous use and consequences of use) in a sample of 683 U.S. college students who endorsed past-month cannabis use and participated in an online survey of substance use behaviors, hypothesizing that a three-profile model would be replicated. We also examined whether age and prior experience with mindfulness predicted DM profile membership (hypothesizing that these variables would differentially predict membership) and explored mean differences in alcohol use across profiles.
Results
LPA results revealed three discrete profiles of DM: non-judgmentally aware, judgmentally observing, and moderate traits. Participants in the non-judgmentally aware profile were less likely to have prior mindfulness experience than the other profiles, but age did not predict profile membership. Judgmentally observing had more hazardous cannabis use and consequences than the other profiles, and no mean differences emerged on alcohol use.
Conclusions
These results build upon the only known study that investigated how DM relates to cannabis use. Further research is needed to elucidate this relationship, which can inform the application of mindfulness interventions for hazardous cannabis use in college students.
Pre-registration
This study was not pre-registered.
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Data Availability
All data are available at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/469ts/).
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The preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Numbers T32AA018108 (PI: Witkiewitz), and K23DA052646 (PI: Hurlocker). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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HC: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, project administration, visualization, writing (original draft), writing (review and editing). JE: conceptualization, methodology, project administration, writing (original draft), writing (review and editing). MH: investigation, methodology, project administration, resources, supervision, validation, writing (review and editing).
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Carlon, H.A., Earnest, J. & Hurlocker, M.C. Is Mindfulness Associated With Safer Cannabis Use? A Latent Profile Analysis of Dispositional Mindfulness Among College Students Who Use Cannabis. Mindfulness 14, 797–807 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02110-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02110-x