A cross-national examination of cannabis protective behavioral strategies’ role in the relationship between Big Five personality traits and cannabis outcomes

Abstract

Background: Problematic cannabis use is common among young adults across the world. However, limited research has examined whether etiological models predicting negative consequences are universal.

Objective: The present study examined whether the Five-Factor Model of personality (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) relates to cannabis outcomes via use of cannabis protective behavioral strategies (PBS) in a cross-national sample of college student cannabis users (i.e., used cannabis in the last 30 days).

Method: Participants were 1175 university students (63.27% female) across five countries (United States, Argentina, Spain, Uruguay, and the Netherlands) recruited to complete an online survey.

Results: PBS use mediated the associations between personality traits and cannabis consequences, such that higher conscientiousness (β = .20), agreeableness (β = .11), and lower emotional stability [i.e., higher neuroticism] (β = −.14) were associated with more PBS use. Higher PBS use was, in turn, associated with lower frequency of cannabis use (β = −.32); lower frequency of use was then associated with fewer cannabis consequences (β = .34). This sequential pathway was invariant across sex, but not countries. Notably, there were a number of differences in links between PBS and cannabis outcomes when comparing countries (e.g., negative associations in the US sample, but positive associations in the Argentina sample).

Conclusions: Cannabis PBS mediates the relationship between personality traits and cannabis outcomes, but there are nuanced differences across countries (i.e., relationship between PBS and cannabis outcomes). Overall, students that are low in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism and/or report low rates of PBS use may benefit from cannabis PBS-focused interventions that promote utilization of PBS.