Passion and Coping Motives As Predictors of Alcohol Use Outcomes Among College Students Who Co-Use Cannabis and Alcohol

Background and Purpose: Prior studies have demonstrated that harmonious passion (a relationship with substance use (SU) that enhances and is well integrated in one’s life) and obsessive passion (a relationship with SU that becomes so compelling and causes conflicts with other activities and one’s values) were associated with cannabis use and use outcomes, but the impact of passion on alcohol use (AU) and use outcomes have not been investigated among college students who co-use cannabis and alcohol. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationships between psychological characteristics (e.g., coping motives, passion) and AU outcomes among this population. Methods: We analyzed baseline data collected from a longitudinal prospective cohort study of 495 undergraduates at two American Midwestern institutions who reported co-use of alcohol and cannabis (Mean age=20.54, SD=2.38, biological male=45.5%, heterosexual=73.1%, Non-Hispanic White=78.8, 297 reported 2+ DSM-5 cannabis use disorder (CUD) symptoms). Canonical correlation analysis was used to examine the dimensional relations of independent variate (coping motives for AU and cannabis use, psychological characteristics (e.g., depression, anxiety, psychological flexibility), CUD symptoms, passion for AU and cannabis use) and dependent variate (AU consequences, alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms), while controlling for covariances of CUD group (2+ CUD symptoms vs. less than two CUD symptoms), study site, gender, and sexual orientation. Results: Findings revealed a significantly positive canonical correlation (N=495, F_28,936=13.72, R_c=.70, p<.001) between independent variables (greater coping motives for AU, harmonious passion for AU, obsessive passion for AU) and dependent variables (more AU consequences and AUD symptoms), while controlling for coping motives for cannabis use, depression, anxiety, psychological flexibility, CUD symptoms, and passion for cannabis use. The canonical correlation model explained 97.1% variance. Similarly, a second canonical correlation analysis examining only those that reported 2+ CUD symptoms (n=297, F_26,548=10.92, R_c=.74, p<.001; the model explained 96.5% variance) and a third canonical correlation analysis examining those that reported less than two CUD symptoms (n=198, F_26,360=4.71, R_c=.64, p<.001; the model explained 91.8% variance) were conducted. Findings from the second canonical correlation analysis and the third canonical correlation analysis were consistent with the overall sample results, indicating that greater coping motives for AU, harmonious passion for AU, obsessive passion for AU, were significantly positively associated with more AU consequences and AUD symptoms, while controlling for coping motives for cannabis use, depression, anxiety, psychological flexibility, CUD symptoms, passion for cannabis use. Conclusions and Implications: Our study findings provide insights into the relationships between psychological characteristics and substance use outcomes and identified important predictors of coping motives and passion on the AU outcomes among college students who co-use cannabis and alcohol. Our findings have implications for clinical practice in that clinicians can use these findings to screen clients’ pre-treatment coping motives and passion for AU as part of their treatment assessment. Treatment programs could design targeted interventions to reduce negative AU consequences and improving coping strategies for college students who report co-use of alcohol and cannabis.