In plain language
"Reflection impulsivity" is the tendency to leap to a decision without first gathering and weighing enough information. Because risky, impulsive decision-making is thought to sit at the heart of problem substance use, and because these behaviours become common during the teenage years, the researchers wanted to know whether adolescent cannabis use is linked to this particular kind of impulsivity.
They studied 175 adolescents (average age 18.3) split into three carefully matched groups: 48 cannabis users, 65 alcohol users, and 62 who used neither. The groups were matched on education, IQ, and, for the two substance-using groups, on levels of alcohol consumption. Everyone completed the Information Sampling Test, a task that measures how much evidence a person collects before committing to a choice.
Cannabis users stood out: they made their decisions after gathering the least information and with the lowest degree of certainty, a pattern of riskier, more impulsive choosing. These differences held up even after accounting for anxiety, depression, alcohol, and ecstasy use. Poorer performance was linked to starting regular cannabis use at an earlier age and to longer overall exposure. Alcohol users, by contrast, looked no different from non-users. Because the young users still showed some sensitivity to losses, the authors argue there may be a window of opportunity to intervene before cannabis dependence sets in.
Key findings
- Adolescent cannabis users sampled the least information and chose at the lowest degree of certainty, indicating greater reflection impulsivity than the other groups.
- Group differences remained significant after controlling for anxiety, depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and ecstasy use.
- Poorer task performance was associated with an earlier age of onset of regular cannabis use and with a longer duration of cannabis exposure, even after controlling for recent use.
- Alcohol users did not differ from non-substance-using controls on any measure of the Information Sampling Test.
- Young cannabis users still showed sensitivity to losses, suggesting impulsivity is most evident when negative consequences are absent.
- The authors suggest early adolescence offers a window for intervention before the onset of cannabis dependence.
How to cite
APA
Solowij, N., Jones, K. A., Rozman, M. E., Davis, S. M., Ciarrochi, J., Heaven, P. C. L., Pesa, N., Lubman, D. I., & Yücel, M. (2012). Reflection impulsivity in adolescent cannabis users: a comparison with alcohol-using and non-substance-using adolescents. Psychopharmacology, 219, 575–586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2486-y
BibTeX
@article{solowij2012reflection,
title = {Reflection impulsivity in adolescent cannabis users: a comparison with alcohol-using and non-substance-using adolescents},
author = {Solowij, Nadia and Jones, Katy A. and Rozman, Megan E. and Davis, Sasha M. and Ciarrochi, Joseph and Heaven, Patrick C. L. and Pesa, Nicole and Lubman, Dan I. and Y{\"u}cel, Murat},
journal = {Psychopharmacology},
volume = {219},
pages = {575--586},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1007/s00213-011-2486-y}
}
Related work
- All publications by Joseph Ciarrochi (searchable, with free PDFs)
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Author: Joseph Ciarrochi (ORCID 0000-0003-0471-8100). Free copy hosted with permission for scholarly use. Please cite the published version via the DOI above.