Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:51:58.957Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Schizotypy and psychosis-like experiences from recreational cannabis in a non-clinical sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2008

E. Barkus  and
S. Lewis
E. Barkus
Affiliation:
The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
S. Lewis*
Affiliation:
The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Professor S. Lewis, University of Manchester, University Place (3rd floor East), Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

The relationship between cannabis use and psychosis is still a matter for debate. Accounting for the individual differences in subjective experiences to recreational cannabis use in the general population may hold some clues to the aetiological relationship between cannabis and psychotic symptoms. We hypothesized that schizotypy would account for the individual differences in subjective experiences after cannabis use but not in patterns of use.

Method

In a sample of 532 young people who had used cannabis at least once, we examined the relationship between the Cannabis Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Additionally, we examined the psychometric properties of the CEQ.

Results

We replicated our previously reported findings that schizotypy was associated with increased psychosis-like experiences and after-effects, but also found that high-scoring schizotypes reported more pleasurable experiences when smoking cannabis. Using new subscales derived from principal components analysis (PCA), we found that the psychosis-like items were most related to varying rates of schizotypy both during the immediate use of cannabis and in the after-effects of cannabis use. High-scoring schizotypes who used cannabis experienced more psychosis-like symptoms during and after use.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that cannabis use may reveal an underlying vulnerability to psychosis in those with high schizotypal traits.

Keywords

Cannabispsychosis pronenessschizotypy
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 9 , September 2008 , pp. 1267 - 1276
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appels, MC, Sitskoorn, MM, Vollema, MG, Kahn, RS (2004). Elevated levels of schizotypal features in parents of patients with a family history of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Schizophrenia Bulletin 30, 781–790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arendt, M, Rosenberg, R, Foldager, L, Perto, G, Munk-Jorgensen, P (2005). Cannabis-induced psychosis and subsequent schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: follow-up study of 535 incident cases. British Journal of Psychiatry 187, 510–515.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baigent, M, Holme, G, Hafner, RJ (1995). Self reports of the interaction between substance abuse and schizophrenia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 29, 69–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barkus, EJ, Stirling, J, Hopkins, RS, Lewis, S (2006). Cannabis-induced psychosis-like experiences are associated with high schizotypy. Psychopathology 39, 175–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barkus, EJ, Stirling, J, Hopkins, RS, McKie, S, Lewis, S (2007). Cognitive and neural processes involved in non-clinical auditory hallucinations. British Journal of Psychiatry 191 (Suppl. 51), s76–s81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Degenhardt, L, Hall, W (2006). Is cannabis use a contributory cause of psychosis? Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 51, 556–565.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diwadkar, VA, Montrose, DM, Dworakowski, D, Sweeney, JA, Keshavan, MS (2006). Genetically predisposed offspring with schizotypal features: an ultra high-risk group for schizophrenia? Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 30, 230–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D'Souza, DC, Abi-Saab, WM, Madonick, S, Forselius-Bielen, K, Doersch, A, Braley, G, Gueorguieva, R, Cooper, TB, Krystal, JH (2005). Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol effects in schizophrenia: implications for cognition, psychosis, and addiction. Biological Psychiatry 57, 594–608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Souza, DC, Perry, E, MacDougall, L, Ammerman, Y, Cooper, T, Wu, YT, Braley, G, Gueorguieva, R, Krystal, JH (2004). The psychotomimetic effects of intravenous delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in healthy individuals: implications for psychosis. Neuropsychopharmacology 29, 1558–1572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dumas, P, Saoud, M, Bouafia, S, Gutknecht, C, Ecochard, R, Dalery, J, Rochet, T, d'Amato, T (2002). Cannabis use correlates with schizotypal personality traits in healthy students. Psychiatry Research 109, 27–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Earleywine, M (2006). Schizotypy, marijuana, and differential item functioning. Human Psychopharmacology 21, 455–461.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fanous, AH, Neale, MC, Gardner, CO, Webb, BT, Straub, RE, O'Neill, FA, Walsh, D, Riley, BP, Kendler, KS (2007). Significant correlation in linkage signals from genome-wide scans of schizophrenia and schizotypy. Molecular Psychiatry 12, 958–965.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fendrich, M, Johnson, TP, Wislar, JS, Hubbell, A, Spiehler, V (2004). The utility of drug testing in epidemiological research: results from a general population survey. Addiction 99, 197–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferdinand, RF, Sondeijker, F, van der Ende, J, Selten, JP, Huizink, A, Verhulst, FC (2005). Cannabis use predicts future psychotic symptoms, and vice versa. Addiction 100, 612–618.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, DM, Poulton, R, Smith, PF, Boden, JM (2006). Cannabis and psychosis. British Medical Journal 332, 172–175.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, W, Degenhardt, L, Teesson, M (2004). Cannabis use and psychotic disorders: an update. Drug and Alcohol Review 23, 433–443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henquet, C, Krabbendam, L, Spauwen, J, Kaplan, C, Lieb, R, Wittchen, HU, van Os, J (2005). Prospective cohort study of cannabis use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms in young people. British Medical Journal 330, 11–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henquet, C, Rosa, A, Krabbendam, L, Papiol, S, Fananas, L, Drukker, M, Ramaekers, JG, van Os, J (2006). An experimental study of catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met moderation of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-induced effects on psychosis and cognition. Neuropsychopharmacology 31, 2748–2757.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Honig, A, Romme, MA, Ensink, BJ, Escher, SD, Pennings, MH, deVries, MW (1998). Auditory hallucinations: a comparison between patients and nonpatients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 186, 646–651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koethe, D, Gerth, CW, Neatby, MA, Haensel, A, Thies, M, Schneider, U, Emrich, HM, Klosterkotter, J, Schultze-Lutter, F, Leweke, FM (2006). Disturbances of visual information processing in early states of psychosis and experimental delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol altered states of consciousness. Schizophrenia Research 883, 142–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwapil, TR (1996). A longitudinal study of drug and alcohol use by psychosis-prone and impulsive non-conforming individuals. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 105, 114–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linszen, DH, Dingemans, PM, Lenior, ME (1994). Cannabis abuse and the course of recent-onset schizophrenic disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 51, 273–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moss, R, Bardang, C, Kindl, K, Dahme, B (2001). Relationship between cannabis use, schizotypal traits and cognitive function in healthy subjects. Psychopathology 34, 209–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raine, A (1991). The SPQ: a scale for the assessment of schizotypal personality based on DSM-III-R criteria. Schizophrenia Bulletin 17, 555–564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schiffman, J, Nakamura, B, Earleywine, M, LaBrie, J (2005). Symptoms of schizotypy precede cannabis use. Psychiatry Research 134, 37–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skosnik, PD, Spatz-Glenn, L, Park, S (2001). Cannabis use is associated with schizotypy and attentional disinhibition. Schizophrenia Research 48, 83–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Os, J, Bak, M, Hanssen, M, Bijl, RV, de Graaf, R, Verdoux, H (2002). Cannabis use and psychosis: a longitudinal population-based study. American Journal of Epidemiology 156, 319–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verdoux, H, Gindre, C, Sorbara, F, Tournier, M, Swendsen, JD (2003). Effects of cannabis and psychosis vulnerability in daily life: an experience sampling test study. Psychological Medicine 33, 23–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verdoux, H, Tournier, M, Cougnard, A (2005). Impact of substance use on the onset and course of early psychosis. Schizophrenia Research 79, 69–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, JH, Wellman, JN, Rawlins, JNP (1996). Cannabis use correlates with schizotypy in healthy people. Addiction 91, 869–877.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed