title: Dissociation between implicit and explicit expectancies of cannabis use in adolescence.
abstract: Cannabis is one of the most commonly drugs used by teenagers. Expectancies about its effects play a crucial role in cannabis consumption. Various tools have been used to assess expectancies, mainly self-report questionnaires measuring explicit expectancies, but implicit measures based on experimental tasks have also been developed, measuring implicit expectancies. The aim of this study was to simultaneously assess implicit/explicit expectancies related to cannabis among adolescent users and non-users. 130 teenagers attending school (55 girls) were enrolled (Age: M=16.40 years); 43.84% had never used cannabis ("non-users") and 56.16% had used cannabis ("users"). They completed self-report questionnaires evaluating cannabis use, cannabis-related problems, effect expectancies (explicit expectancies), alcohol use, social and trait anxiety, depression, as well as three Implicit Association Tests (IAT) assessing implicit expectancies. Adolescents manifested more implicit affective associations (relaxation, excitation, negative) than neutral ones regarding cannabis. These were not related to explicit expectancies. Cannabis users reported more implicit relaxation expectancies and less negative explicit expectancies than non-users. The frequency of use and related problems were positively associated with the explicit expectancies regarding relaxation and enhancement, and were negatively associated with negative explicit expectancies and negative implicit expectancies. Findings indicate that implicit and explicit expectancies play different roles in cannabis use by adolescents. The implications for experimentation and prevention are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Cognition et Comportement, Université de Liège, Boulevard du Rectorat 5/B32, B-4000 Liège, Belgium; Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, Belgium. Electronic address: schmits@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schmits
authors.affiliation: Institut de Psychologie, LEP, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place Cardinal Mercier, 10/bte L3.05.01, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium; Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, Belgium. Electronic address: pierre.maurage@uclouvain.be.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maurage
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Cognition et Comportement, Université de Liège, Boulevard du Rectorat 5/B32, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. Electronic address: romain.thirion@student.ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thirion
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Cognition et Comportement, Université de Liège, Boulevard du Rectorat 5/B32, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. Electronic address: equertemont@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Quertemont
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001530:Belgium; D002188:Cannabis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D012063:Relaxation / Q000523:psychology; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Implicit measure; Marijuana; Self-report questionnaire; Substance use; Teenagers