Objective: To examine the prevalence and correlates of lifetime cannabis use (i.e., experimental [use 1-5 times] and non-experimental [use ≥ 6 times]) in relation to interpersonal trauma (IPT) above and beyond relevant covariates.
Participants: A large (n = 9,889) representative sample of college students at an urban university in the southeastern part of the United States.
Methods: Participants were 4 cohorts of first-year college students who completed measures of demographics, cannabis, alcohol, nicotine, and IPT. Associations were estimated using multinomial logistic regressions.
Results: The prevalence of lifetime cannabis use was 28.1% and 17.4% for non-experimental and experimental cannabis use, respectively. IPT was significantly associated with experimental and non-experimental cannabis use above and beyond effects of sex, race, cohort, alcohol, and nicotine.
Conclusions: Results show that cannabis use is prevalent among college students and is associated with IPT above and beyond associations with sex, race, and other substance use.
Keywords: Cannabis; college students; substance use; trauma.