Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Adverse life outcomes are associated with hazardous substance use. Those who simultaneously use alcohol and cannabis are at increased risk for negative consequences such as health complications and developing substance use disorders (SUD). Simultaneous use – or alcohol and cannabis co-use – is a particularly common practice among emerging adults. As such, the transition to adulthood may be a critical period for identifying factors linked with risk and resilience. Risk models of polysubstance use have lagged behind as we have yet to capture the complexity of co-use (i.e., sequential vs. concurrent use). Despite this, emerging evidence links impulsivity with co-use. The first aim of the current study is to identify alcohol and cannabis co-use and single use patterns in emerging adults based on hazardous use, frequency, and quantity. The second aim is to investigate impulsivity as a transdiagnostic risk factor for unique alcohol and cannabis risk typologies. This study is embedded within a larger CIHR-funded longitudinal project. Undergraduates in their final year at Concordia University will complete self-reports of cannabis and alcohol use and impulsivity. Latent profile analysis will be used to identify typologies of cannabis and alcohol co-use and single use. The profiles will be regressed on overall impulsivity and, in a separate model, five distinct facets of impulsivity. Findings may lead to improved assessment of polysubstance use. As such, an outcome of this work may be refined screening tools; these may benefit prevention efforts. This work may also highlight impulsivity as a risk factor, thereby offering direction for development of more effective and targeted interventions for emerging adults who engage in risky substance co-use.