A Psychometric Evaluation of User-Generated Cannabis Use Motives in German University Students

Motives for cannabis use are hardly generated by users themselves nor are they validated for German users. We therefore aimed to replicate the motive structure of established questionnaires (e.g., MMM and CMMQ) in young German adults. In a cross-sectional internet survey, N=1782 cannabis-using university students rated the importance of 18 cannabis use motives derived from at-risk cannabis user interviews. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and tested associations with use and possible DSM-IV Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) in a regression framework. The three-factor model (factors: Social, Expansion, Coping) had acceptable fit, sufficient factorial validity, and a relatively stable factor structure across subsamples. Sum scores were unrelated to gender, current age, and age at first use, but differentiated for consumption frequencies, CUD symptom, and possible CUD. The relatively short Cannabis Use Motives list (CANUM) replicated theory-driven motives, additionally covers medically oriented use, and can be employed in future cross-validation studies.