Cannabis and Alcohol Use and Their Associations with Sleep: A Daily Diary Investigation of Single-Use and Co-Use in College Students.

Introduction: Sleep continuity problems are widespread among college students and may be influenced by single-use and co-use of alcohol and cannabis. We examined the within-person associations of alcohol and cannabis use with subsequent sleep experiences in the everyday life of college students. Materials and Methods: A sample of 80 college students reported prior-night alcohol and cannabis use and sleep experiences for 14 consecutive days. Mixed-effects models examined the within-person relationships between alcohol and cannabis use (single- and co-use) and subsequent (1) sleep-onset latency, (2) total sleep time, (3) number of awakenings, and (4) early awakenings that night. Results: Compared to no-use evenings, alcohol and cannabis, used separately or together (co-use), were associated with shorter sleep-onset latency and longer total sleep time. Students reported more nightly awakenings after alcohol-only use compared to no-use and after co-use, and they reported fewer early awakenings after no-use and co-use. Conclusions: In line with previous experimental findings, we found that alcohol and cannabis use in the everyday life of college students were associated with sleep-inducing effects, and that alcohol use was associated with disturbed sleep continuity. The results suggest that cannabis may curb alcohol's detrimental effect on the number of awakenings and may reduce the incidence of early awakenings. Yet, due to lack of control for potentially important confounders (e.g., quantity of cannabis/alcohol consumed, withdrawal) the current results may be best seen as preliminary and further research is needed before causal inferences can be reached.

Cannabis use as a predictor and outcome of positive and negative affect in college students: An ecological momentary assessment study.

BACKGROUND: Reinforcement models identify negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) to be important momentary determinants and outcomes of cannabis use. Sensitization and allostatic models further suggest that these mood-cannabis associations are stronger among individuals with more cannabis-related problems. Despite this theoretical background and the fact that cannabis is commonly used for its mood-enhancing effects among college students, surprisingly, little is known about the momentary associations between mood and cannabis use in this population. AIMS: To examine the associations between (a) momentary within-person variations in NA (worried, stressed, nervous) and PA (happy, enthusiastic, proud, excited) and intention to use cannabis within the next hour, (b) the within-person variations in time elapsed since last cannabis use, amount used and momentary NA and PA, and (c) to test whether cannabis-related problems moderate the stated associations. METHOD: Eighty, more-than-weekly, cannabis using students at the University of Amsterdam reported on cannabis use, NA and PA three times daily for 14 consecutive days. Mixed-effects models were performed to analyze the dataset. RESULTS: Within-persons, relatively high PA and low NA were associated with a higher likelihood of intending to use cannabis. Within-persons, more recent and greater amounts of cannabis use were associated with relatively high PA. More recent cannabis use was associated with relatively low NA. Cannabis-related problems did not moderate the associations. CONCLUSIONS: While recent cannabis use related to higher PA and lower NA, high PA but low NA preceded use, supporting positive reinforcement rather than negative reinforcement in this college sample of regular cannabis users.