Co-Morbidity of Select Anxiety, Affective, and Psychotic Disorders with Cannabis Dependence in Southwest California Indians

• Published in: Journal of addictive diseases 2006-01, Vol.25 (4), p.67-79
• Main Authors: Gilde, David A., Lau, Philip, Dixon, Michelle, Corey, Linda, Phillips, Evelyn, Ehlers, Cindy L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addiction; Addictions; Adult; American; American Indian people; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Anxiety Disorders - ethnology; Anxiety Disorders - etiology; Biological and medical sciences; California - epidemiology; Cannabis; Catchment Area (Health); co-morbidity; Comorbidity; Demography; dependence; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Drug abuse; Drug addictions; Epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Humans; Indians; Indians, North American - statistics & numerical data; Male; Marijuana; Marijuana Abuse - diagnosis; Marijuana Abuse - ethnology; Marijuana Abuse - psychology; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Mental health; Mood Disorders - diagnosis; Mood Disorders - ethnology; Mood Disorders - etiology; Morbidity; Native North Americans; Prevalence; Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis; Psychotic Disorders - ethnology; Psychotic Disorders - etiology; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Toxicology
• ISSN: 1055-0887; 1545-0848
• DOI: 10.1300/J069v25n04_07

Cannabis dependence is co-morbid with psychiatric disorders in general population surveys, but whether co-morbidity exists in American Indian populations is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess co-morbidity between cannabis dependence and psychiatric disorders in a community sample of Southwest California (SWC) Indians. Demographic information and DSM-III-R diagnoses, including differentiation of independent and cannabis-induced psychiatric disorders, were obtained using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) developed for the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) from 513 SWC Indian adults residing on contiguous reservations. Although SWC Indians in this sample had high rates of cannabis dependence (43% in men and 24% in women), cannabis-induced psychiatric disorders each occurred in 1% or less of the sample. No significant co-morbidity with independent psychiatric disorders was found. In SWC Indians, cannabis dependence may be less etiologically related to psychiatric disorders than in the general population.