Coping Motives As a Cannabis-Specific Mechanism between Passion and Substance Use Problems Among College Students Who Use Alcohol and Cannabis Simultaneously

Background/Purpose: Simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use (SAM) represents a prevalent, high-risk pattern among college students, associated with increased frequency and quantity of use and elevated risk of alcohol and cannabis use disorders. Despite its recognized public health significance, motivation-informed prevention strategies remain underdeveloped. The Dualistic Model of Passion distinguishes harmonious (autonomous, flexible engagement) fromobsessive (compulsive, inflexible engagement) engagement with substance use, offering a framework for understanding how passion may generate substance-related harm through coping-oriented use. Coping-motivated use describes using substances to manage negative affect and is one potential mechanism through which passion may elevate risk. This study had two exploratory aims among college students engaging in SAM: to examine whether substance-specific coping motives prospectively accounted for associations between passion type and (1) substance use disorder criteria, and (2) substance use-related consequences.

Methods: Undergraduate students reporting SAM were recruited through random sampling at a Midwestern U.S. university between November 2020 and November 2021. Substance-specific passion (Passion Scale for Substance Use) and coping motives (DMQ-R for alcohol; MMM for cannabis) were assessed at baseline. Follow-up assessments measured substance-specific coping motives at 5 months, and substance use disorder criteria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 [DSM-5] Alcohol Use Disorder [AUD] and Cannabis Use Disorder [CUD] checklists) and use-related consequences (B-YAACQ for alcohol; B-MACQ for cannabis) at 10 months. Prospective mediation models were estimated using the PROCESS macro (v5.0, Model 4), controlling for DSM-5 CUD status at screening and baseline levels of substance-specific coping motives.

Results: The analytic sample included 192 undergraduate students reporting SAM at baseline (Mage = 20.64, SD=2.29; 55.2% female; 80.7% non-Hispanic White), of whom 153-156 completed all three waves. Over half (54.7%) met DSM-5 criteria for at least mild CUD severity at screening. Mediation analyses revealed substance-specific patterns. For cannabis, coping motives fully accounted for the associations between harmonious passion and both CUD criteria (indirect effect b=0.12, 95% CI [0.01, 0.28]) and use-related consequences (indirect effect b=0.17, 95% CI [0.005, 0.41]), with no direct effects remaining. Cannabis obsessive passion predicted CUD criteria through both coping motives (indirect effect b=0.14, 95% CI [0.002, 0.37]) and a direct pathway (b=1.11, p<.001). For alcohol, coping motives did not account for thepassion-problem associations after controlling for baseline coping levels. Alcohol obsessive passion retained strong direct associations with AUD criteria (b=1.74, p<.001) and use-related consequences (b=2.73, p<.001), and alcohol harmonious passion showed a significant direct association with AUD criteria (b=0.40, p<.05).

Conclusion/Implications: Coping motives represent a cannabis-specific mechanism linking passion to substance useproblems in SAM-engaged students, with effects varying by passion type. Complete mediation for harmonious passion suggests that cannabis-related risk may be contingent on coping-oriented use. Direct effects of obsessive passion across both substances suggest that compulsive motivational orientations operate through pathways beyond coping motives. Substance-specific motivational screening may be valuable in campus counseling centers and integrated college behavioral health settings, with coping-oriented cannabis use as a priority target for early intervention. Future research should identify mechanisms underlying obsessive passion’s direct effects on substance-related harms.