Associations Between Marijuana Use Trajectories and Educational and Occupational Success in Young Adulthood. 2019

Kara Thompson, and Bonnie Leadbeater, and Megan Ames, and Gabriel J Merrin
Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, 2323 Notre Dame Ave., Antigonish, NS, B2G 2W5, Canada. kdthomps@stfx.ca.

Adolescence and young adulthood is a critical stage when the economic foundations for life-long health are established. To date, there is little consensus as to whether marijuana use is associated with poor educational and occupational success in adulthood. We investigated associations between trajectories of marijuana use from ages 15 to 28 and multiple indicators of economic well-being in young adulthood including achievement levels (i.e., educational attainment and occupational prestige), work characteristics (i.e., full vs part-time employment, hours worked, annual income), financial strain (i.e., debt, trouble paying for necessities, delaying medical attention), and perceived workplace stress. Data were from the Victoria Healthy Youth Survey, a 10-year prospective study of a randomly recruited community sample of 662 youth (48% male; Mage = 15.5), followed biennially for six assessments. Models adjusted for baseline age, sex, SES, high school grades, heavy drinking, smoking, and internalizing and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms. Chronic users (our highest risk class) reported lower levels of educational attainment, lower occupational prestige, lower income, greater debt, and more difficulty paying for medical necessities in young adulthood compared to abstainers. Similarly, increasers also reported lower educational attainment, occupational prestige, and income. Decreasers, who had high early use but quit over time, showed resilience in economic well-being, performing similar to abstainers. Groups did not differ on employment status or perceived workplace stress. The findings indicate that early onset and persistent high or increasingly frequent use of marijuana in the transition from adolescent to young adulthood is associated with risks for achieving educational and occupational success, and subsequently health, in young adulthood.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008385 Marijuana Smoking Inhaling and exhaling SMOKE from CANNABIS. Cannabis Smoking,Hashish Smoking,Marihuana Smoking,Smoking Blunts,Smoking, Blunts,Blunt, Smoking,Blunts Smoking,Blunts Smokings,Blunts, Smoking,Smoking Blunt,Smoking, Cannabis,Smoking, Hashish,Smoking, Marihuana,Smoking, Marijuana,Smokings, Blunts
D011446 Prospective Studies Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group. Prospective Study,Studies, Prospective,Study, Prospective
D002189 Marijuana Abuse Use of marijuana associated with abnormal psychological, social, and or occupational functioning. Cannabis Abuse,Cannabis Dependence,Cannabis-Related Disorder,Hashish Abuse,Marijuana Dependence,Marihuana Abuse,Abuse, Cannabis,Abuse, Hashish,Abuse, Marihuana,Abuse, Marijuana,Cannabis Related Disorder,Dependence, Cannabis,Dependence, Marijuana,Disorder, Cannabis-Related
D004522 Educational Status Educational attainment or level of education of an individual. Education Level,Educational Achievement,Educational Attainment,Educational Level,Level of Education,Maternal Education Level,Maternal Educational Attainment,Maternal Educational Level,Paternal Education Level,Paternal Educational Attainment,Paternal Educational Level,Achievement, Educational,Educational Status, Maternal,Educational Status, Paternal,Maternal Educational Status,Paternal Educational Status,Status, Educational,Attainment, Educational,Attainment, Maternal Educational,Attainment, Paternal Educational,Education Level, Maternal,Education Level, Paternal,Education Levels,Educational Achievements,Educational Attainment, Maternal,Educational Attainment, Paternal,Educational Attainments,Educational Level, Maternal,Educational Level, Paternal,Educational Levels,Level, Education,Level, Educational,Level, Maternal Education,Level, Maternal Educational,Level, Paternal Education,Level, Paternal Educational,Levels, Maternal Educational,Maternal Education Levels,Maternal Educational Attainments,Maternal Educational Levels,Paternal Education Levels,Paternal Educational Attainments,Paternal Educational Levels,Status, Maternal Educational,Status, Paternal Educational
D004651 Employment The state of being engaged in an activity or service for wages or salary. Employment Termination,Employment Status,Labor Force,Occupational Status,Status, Occupational,Underemployment,Labor Forces,Status, Employment,Termination, Employment
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000074609 Marijuana Use Medicinal or recreational utilization of MARIJUANA. Marijuana-Related Disorder,Recreational Marijuana Use,Disorder, Marijuana-Related,Disorders, Marijuana-Related,Marijuana Related Disorder,Marijuana Use, Recreational,Marijuana Uses,Marijuana Uses, Recreational,Marijuana-Related Disorders,Recreational Marijuana Uses,Use, Marijuana,Use, Recreational Marijuana,Uses, Marijuana,Uses, Recreational Marijuana
D000124 Achievement Success in bringing an effort to the desired end; the degree or level of success attained in some specified area (esp. scholastic) or in general. Accomplishment,Accomplishments,Achievements

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