Results were consistent with hypotheses. First, as expected, higher levels of PTS symptom severity were significantly associated with greater levels of marijuana use coping motives, beyond the variance contributed by marijuana use frequency and non-criterion marijuana use motives. This finding replicates prior work establishing an association between PTS symptom severity and coping-oriented marijuana use, specifically (Bremner et al., 1996; Bonn-Miller et al., 2007), and coping-oriented substance use, more broadly (Beckham et al., 1995, 1997; Dixon et al., 2009; Feldner, Babson, & Zvolensky 2007; Feldner et al., 2007; Stewart et al., 2000; Stewart et al., 2004; Ullman et al., 2006). Thus, it may be clinically useful to integrate coping skills into treatments for marijuana users with PTS symptoms or PTSD to help reduce their reliance on marijuana as a coping mechanism (e.g., Najavits, 2002). To further inform this line of study, experimental and prospective designs examining the directionality of the PTS-marijuana use coping motives association are needed.
