Cannabis and Alcohol Use, Affect, and Impulsivity in Psychiatric Outpatients’ Daily Lives (original) (raw)

Background and Aims-Cannabis and alcohol are the most commonly used (il)licit drugs worldwide. We compared the effects of cannabis and alcohol use on within-person changes in impulsivity, hostility, and positive affect at the momentary and daily levels, as they occurred in daily life. Design-Observational study involving ecological momentary assessments collected via electronic diaries 6 random times a day for 28 consecutive days. Setting-Outpatients' everyday life contexts in Columbia, MO, USA. Participants-Ninety-three adult psychiatric outpatients (85% female; M=30.9 years old) with Borderline Personality or Depressive disorders, who reported using only cannabis (n=3), only alcohol (n=58), or both (n=32) at least once during the study period. Measurements-Real-time, standard self-report measures of impulsivity, hostility, and positive affect, as impacted by momentary reports of cannabis and alcohol use. Findings-Cannabis use was associated with elevated feelings of impulsivity at the day level (b=0.83, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=0.17-1.49) and increased hostility at the momentary (b=0.07, 95% CI=0.01-0.12) and person (b=0.81, 95% CI=0.15-1.47) level. Alcohol use was associated with elevated feelings of impulsivity at the momentary (b=0.42, 95% CI=0.13-0.71) and day level (b=0.82, 95% CI=0.22-1.41) and increased positive affect at the momentary (b=0.12, 95% CI=0.06-0.18) and day (b=0.33, 95% CI=0.16-0.49) level. Conclusions-Cannabis and alcohol use are associated with increases in impulsivity (both), hostility (cannabis), and positive affect (alcohol) in daily life, and these effects are part of separate processes that operate on different time scales (i.e., momentary versus daily).