NCT05833230

Investigating Real-world Stress-related Mechanisms in Heavy Cannabis Users

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 54 (actual)
• Sponsor: Yale University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This research project proposes a novel approach to elucidate the biological adaptations associated with heavy cannabis use and to assess whether such adaptations are predictive of higher cannabis craving in response to both cannabis cues and stressors.

Detailed description

As more states in the US have legalized recreational cannabis use, the number of individuals who use cannabis has also increased. Individuals are also using cannabis more frequently and in larger amounts as it has become more available and less challenging to purchase. These statistics are alarming because heavy use of cannabis has been linked to several societal and public health concerns, such as poorer mental health outcomes, higher rates of unemployment, and poorer life satisfaction. Many of these associations are associated with increased burden and stress; however, cannabis may alter how individuals cope biologically, such as the stress hormone cortisol, and psychologically with these stressors. For example, heavy use of alcohol and other drugs, such as cocaine or nicotine, change overall cortisol levels and how cortisol is released in response to stress. In laboratory studies, healthy individuals show a peak in cortisol following a stressor, whereas individuals who use alcohol and substances heavily have a less robust response. However, it is not known if this phenomenon occurs in individuals who use cannabis heavily in real-world stressful situations. Heavier use of alcohol or drugs is associated with wanting or craving drugs or alcohol more when in stressful situations. In this proposal, the team will use smartphone-delivered surveys combined with regular saliva sampling to examine the associations between psychological and biological stress responses and cannabis use. Individuals who use cannabis at least once weekly will be recruited to complete two weeks of smartphone surveys. The participants will also provide regular saliva samples and wear a heart rate monitor on three consecutive days within those two weeks. These saliva samples will be analyzed for the hormone cortisol and salivary alpha amylase. The team will examine if self-reported cannabis use predicts how an individual responds, both biological and psychological, to a stressor when they encounter it their daily life. The team will also investigate if individuals who use more cannabis are more likely to want to use cannabis when they encounter daily life stress. Results from this study can help us develop treatments that help individuals who use cannabis heavily better cope with stress.

Conditions

• Cannabis Use
• Cannabis
• Cannabis Abuse

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Intensive Day Monitoring	During intake, a research assistant will demonstrate how to place the Heart Rate Variability monitor and provide instructions on completing the saliva samples at home. Participants will wear the Heart Rate Variability monitor for three consecutive, randomly selected days twice (72 hours each). Participants will be provided with six saliva sample collection tubes per day with explicit directions on when the saliva sampling should occur (hours since waking: +0, +1, +2, +4, +6, +10 hours, and before going to sleep). Participants will also complete a subjective report using similar questions included in the survey prompts at the same scheduled time as the saliva sample. All participants will complete a total of 6 such days during the study.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-06-01
• Primary completion: 2025-02-26
• Completion: 2025-02-26
• First posted: 2023-04-27
• Last updated: 2025-03-04

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States