Perspectives of adolescents and young adults on cannabis use during pregnancy

Christopher Whitlock; Claire Chang; Regina Onishchenko; Madgean Joassaint; Emily Madlambayan; Lauren Oshman; Christopher J Frank

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108059

Perspectives of adolescents and young adults on cannabis use during pregnancy

Addict Behav. 2024 May 7:156:108059. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108059. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Christopher Whitlock¹, Claire Chang¹, Regina Onishchenko¹, Madgean Joassaint², Emily Madlambayan², Lauren Oshman³, Christopher J Frank⁴

Affiliations

¹ University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
² University of Michigan, 550 S State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
³ Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, 1018 Fuller St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
⁴ Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, 1018 Fuller St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: cfrank@med.umich.edu.

PMID: 38723313
DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108059

Abstract

Purpose: Rates of cannabis use during pregnancy are highest for adolescents and young adults (AYAs). This study aims to understand AYA perspectives regarding the medical and legal consequences of prenatal and parental cannabis use.

Methods: This study delivered five open-ended survey questions regarding prenatal cannabis use in May/June 2022 via a text message polling platform to the MyVoice cohort, a cohort of AYA aged 14-24 throughout the United States recruited from social media to target national benchmarks set by the American Community Survey. We used qualitative content analysis to analyze open-ended responses and summarized code frequency and demographic data with descriptive statistics.

Results: Of 826 AYAs, 666 responded to at least one question (response rate = 80.6 %) and the mean age of respondents was 19.9 years (SD = 2.3). We identified four themes from responses: (1) AYA believe cannabis is harmful during pregnancy, (2) they are divided on whether prenatal cannabis exposure should be considered child abuse or neglect, (3) they have mixed attitudes about safe parenting and regular cannabis use, and (4) they support counseling from health care professionals about prenatal cannabis use.

Conclusions: AYAs were concerned about potential risks of prenatal cannabis exposure and want clinicians to counsel about cannabis use during pregnancy. More than one in three AYAs surveyed felt prenatal cannabis use should be classified as child abuse or neglect, in contrast to the declining perception of risk among pregnant people.

Keywords: Adolescents; Cannabis in pregnancy; Patient preference; Young adults.