A new federally funded study on cannabis use and parenting finds that parents typically don’t consume marijuana while their kids are present. Those who used cannabis, however, were also significantly likely to report positive parenting behaviors in the same timeframe that they consumed the drug.
But the relationship between marijuana and parenting is a nuanced one, wrote authors from the University of Tennessee, Ohio State University and San Jose State University, and appears to also rely heavily on who else is present at the time.
Overall, the findings “reveal a complicated relationship between cannabis use and parenting among a sample of cannabis users,” authors wrote. But the results nevertheless provide “some information on ways parents can engage in harm reduction to support positive parenting.”
The study, funded by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant and published this month in the journal Parenting: Science and Practice, analyzed survey responses from 77 parents recruited by research assistants at Sacramento area cannabis retailers. On average, participants were 32 years old, and nearly three quarters (72 percent) were mothers. About half (50.6 percent) were either married or “living in a marriage-like relationship,” while the remaining half were single, widowed or divorced.
Participants were asked to complete a baseline survey and then five brief surveys per day for a 14-day period, followed by a final survey on day 15. They were asked “a battery of questions,” the study says, “pertaining to parenting behaviors, stress, cannabis use, alcohol use, and context.” Participants received small financial incentives for filling out the surveys, with a total possible incentive for each participant of $190.
Hellbound and Down 