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    Rights statement: © 2015 Tyler et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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The relationship between Bipolar Disorder and Cannabis use in daily life: an experience sampling study

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Article numbere0118916
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>4/03/2015
<mark>Journal</mark>PLoS ONE
Issue number3
Volume10
Number of pages15
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Objectives

Although cannabis use is common in bipolar disorder and may contribute to worse clinical outcomes, little is understood about the relationship between this drug and bipolar disorder over the course of daily life. The aim of study was to examine the effect of cannabis on affect and bipolar symptoms in a group of individuals with bipolar disorder.

Methods

Twenty-four participants with bipolar disorder type I or type II completed diaries for 6 days using Experience Sampling Methodology to investigate the temporal associations between cannabis, affect and bipolar disorder symptoms.

Results

The results indicated that higher levels of positive affect increase the odds of using cannabis (OR:1.25 ,CI:1.06–1.47, P=0.008). However, neither negative affect, manic nor depressive symptoms predicted the use of cannabis. Cannabis use was associated with subsequent increases in positive affect (β=0.35, CI:0.20-0.51, P=0.000), manic symptoms (β=0.20,CI:0.05-0.34, P=0.009) and depressive symptoms (β= 0.17,CI:0.04-0.29, P=0.008).

Conclusion

The findings indicate that cannabis use is associated with a number of subsequent psychological effects. However there was no evidence that individuals with BD were using cannabis to self-medicate minor fluctuations in negative affect or bipolar disorder symptoms over the course of daily life. The findings in relation to existing literature and clinical implications are discussed.

Bibliographic note

© 2015 Tyler et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.