Dissertation
ATTITUDINAL BARRIERS TO MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT INCREASE FREQUENCY OF CANNABIS USE THROUGH COPING MOTIVES
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2017
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/117348
Abstract
Cannabis users are at higher risk for meeting criteria for any mental disorder than the general population. However, there remains a dearth of research that examines whether barriers to mental health treatment increase the use of cannabis to cope with mental health symptoms (i.e., coping motives). This study explores whether attitudinal barriers (i.e., negative attitudes toward treatment, such as stigma) predict a higher frequency of cannabis use. If so, it also explores whether coping motives explains this relationship. Methods: Participants were students at Washington State University who received violations for under age cannabis use or possession. Data were collected from participants 60 days after a mandated two-part intervention (n = 103). A cross-sectional path analysis was performed to assess whether coping motives mediated the relationship between negative attitudes toward mental health treatment and frequency of cannabis use, after controlling for the effect of mental health symptoms on coping motives. Results: The path analysis demonstrated that coping motives mediated the relationship between negative attitudes toward treatment and frequency of use (indirect effect: β = .087, CI: .016-.541). This model demonstrated full mediation while accounting for the effect of mental health symptoms on coping motives and fit well with the data (Χ2 (2) = .367, p=.83, RMSEA=.00, CRI=1, SRMR=.008). Conclusions: The results suggest negative attitudes toward mental health treatment are related to an increased frequency of cannabis use. The full mediation through coping motives suggests that barriers to treatment may increase the need to use cannabis to cope with common mental health symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress). Addressing attitudes toward mental health treatment in addition to coping motives for cannabis use may promote treatment-seeking behaviors when needed, possibly reducing cannabis use to manage common mental health symptoms (e.g., stress, anxiety, depression).
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Details
- Title
- ATTITUDINAL BARRIERS TO MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT INCREASE FREQUENCY OF CANNABIS USE THROUGH COPING MOTIVES
- Creators
- Candace Fanale
- Contributors
- Bruce R Wright (Advisor)G. Leonard Burns (Committee Member)Sarah Tragesser (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Psychology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 47
- Identifiers
- 99900581724201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation