Developing a Research Question and Creating a Personal Code Book

Introduction

After reviewing the codebook of NESARC, a survey in over 43093 U.S. citizens (over the age of 18) designed to determine the magnitude of alcohol use and psychiatric disorders, I found myself particularly interested in cannabis use disorders. More specifically I aim to examine the patterns of association between cannabis use, and major depression as well as general anxiety disorder diagnosed in the last 12 months. Nowadays, cannabis is the most widely consumed drug in many countries, however there is also a medical use of it. It has been estimated that around 10% of people who use cannabis will become depended upon it [4]. It is common knowledge that there is a strong relationship between mental disorders and alcohol abuse, therefore it is a matter of interest whether cannabis’ frequent use co-occurs with depression and generalized anxiety.

Research Question

Is cannabis use associated with major depression and general anxiety disorder diagnoses in the last 12 months?

Hypothesis

Despite the fact that several studies have examined issues relevant to cannabis abuse disorders, its difficult to decide if cannabis use leads to psychiatric illnesses. At this point it is necessary to separate cannabis use from a heavier involvement with the drug (dependence / abuse). My personal belief is that cannabis use increases the likelihood of depression symptoms and anxiety disorders, however not as significantly as cannabis abuse / dependence, which could cause mental disorders like the ones mentioned above.

NESARC Codebook Sections and Variables

After looking through NESARC codebook, firstly i decided to take into consideration the unique identification number (IDNUM) and the variable (AGE) from background information (SECTION 1) of the sample, in order to make my findings more reliable. Furthermore for my first question topic I chose, from the drug / medicine use section (SECTION 3B), to include information like the percentage of people who ever used cannabis (S3BQ1A5), as well as the period of this use -last 12 months / prior to last 12 months / both periods- (S3BD5Q2B) and the frequency of it when using the most (S3BD5Q2E). As far as the second topic is concerned, I selected the variable of non-hierarchical major depression diagnosis, in last 12 months (MAJORDEP12) and the variable of non-hierarchical generalized anxiety diagnosis, in last 12 months (GENAXDX12), which are included in the diagnoses section (SECTION 14).

IDNUM

Literature review

Taking into account the literature review I performed, using Google Scholar, I found several academic studies and researches based on the relationship between cannabis use, depression and anxiety there was a moderate association between involvement with cannabis use in the past 12 months and the prevalence of affective and anxiety disorders. Among those with DSM-IV cannabis dependence, 14 % had affective disorder symptoms, compared to 6 % of non-users; while 17 % met criteria for an anxiety disorder, compared to 5 % of non-users [4]. These associations did not remain significant after including demographics, neuroticism and other drug use in multiple regressions. Cannabis use did not appear to be directly related to depression or anxiety when account was taken of other drug use. However, the association between heavier involvement with cannabis use and affective and anxiety disorders has implications for the treatment of persons with problematic cannabis use [4].

References

  1. Degenhardt, L., Hall, W., & Lynskey, M. (2003). Exploring the association between cannabis use and depression. Addiction, 98(11), 1493-1504.
  2. Degenhardt, L., Hall, W., & Lynskey, M. (2001). Alcohol, cannabis and tobacco use among Australians: a comparison of their associations with other drug use and use disorders, affective and anxiety disorders, and psychosis. Addiction, 96(11), 1603-1614.
  3. Degenhardt, L., Hall, W., & Lynskey, M. (2001). The relationship between cannabis use, depression and anxiety among Australian adults: findings from the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 36(5), 219-227.