RT Journal Article
T1 Age of onset of cannabis use and decision making under uncertainty
A1 Alameda Bailén, José Ramón
A1 Salguero Alcañiz, María Pilar
A1 Merchán Clavellino, Ana
A1 Paíno Quesada, Susana Gaspara
AB Objective: Cannabis, like other substances, negatively affects health, inducingrespiratory problems and mental and cognitive alterations. Memory and learningdisorders, as well as executive dysfunctions, are also neuropsychological disordersassociated to cannabis use. Recent evidence reveals that cannabis use duringadolescence may disrupt the normal development of the brain. This study is aimedto analyze possible differences between early-onset and late-onset cannabisconsumers.Method: We used a task based on a card game with four decks and differentprograms of gains/losses. A total of 72 subjects (19 women; 53 men) participatedin the study; they were selected through a purposive sampling and divided intothree groups: early-onset consumers, late-onset consumers, and control (nonconsumers).The task used was the “Cartas” program (computerized version basedon the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)), with two versions: direct and inverse. Thecomputational model “Prospect Valence Learning” (PVL) was applied in order todescribe the decision according to four characteristics: utility, loss aversion, recency,and consistency.Results: The results evidence worst performance in the IGT in the early-onsetconsumers as compared to late-onset consumers and control. Differences betweengroups were also found in the PVL computational model parameters, since theprocess of decision making of the early-onset consumers was more influenced by themagnitude of the gains-losses, and more determined by short-term results withoutloss aversion.Conclusions: Early onset cannabis use may involve decision-making problems, andtherefore intervention programs are necessary in order to reduce the prevalenceand delay the onset of cannabis use among teenagers.
PB PeerJ
SN 2167-8359
YR 2018
FD 2018-07
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/16094
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/16094
LA eng
NO Jose Ramón Alameda Bailén, Pilar Salguero Alcañiz, Ana Merchán Clavellino, Susana Paíno-Quesada. Age of onset of cannabis use and decision making under uncertainty. PeerJ 6(8), July 2018. ESSN: 2167-8359. DOI 10.7717/peerj.5201
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026