ORCID

Abstract

Rationale: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) affects over 50 million people globally. Emerging evidence shows that some people with CUD may experience altered social cognition (e.g., emotion recognition or differentiation). These impairments can affect their ability to understand others’ emotional states and navigate social interactions, potentially contributing to chronic cannabis use, even when it leads to interpersonal problems. However, the literature on social cognition in cannabis users is inconsistent, based on a paucity of studies, and characterised by methodological issues including conflation of remitted and current CUD (i.e., does not consider abstinence effects on cognition), limited assessment of cannabis metrics (e.g., dosage) and confounds entrenched with CUD (e.g., nicotine/alcohol use, anxiety). Objectives/methods: We aimed to examine social cognition (i.e., emotion recognition and differentiation, immediate/delayed face memory) in relation to endorsement of CUD (n = 83) vs. controls (n = 32), and measures of level of problematic cannabis use (i.e., Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test – Revised; CUDIT-R) and dosage (i.e., cannabis grams/past month), accounting for hours since last cannabis use, nicotine/alcohol use, and trait anxiety. Results: There were no significant effects of CUD (d = 0–0.314) or dosage and level of problematic cannabis use on social cognition. Conclusions: Altered social cognition may not be a key feature of CUD, or the relationship between CUD and cognition may be moderated by factors such as age, treatment seeking, education, and IQ. In this study, younger age and higher education or IQ may have served as protective factors against social alterations. Replication studies are required to validate this notion.

Publication Date

2026-04-01

Publication Title

Psychopharmacology

Volume

243

Issue

4

ISSN

0033-3158

Acceptance Date

2025-08-12

Deposit Date

2026-08-17

Funding

Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions. The present study was nested within a larger investigation titled ‘Characterising neurobiological abnormalities in Cannabis Use Disorders’ funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant Scheme (NHMRC ID:1130079). Ms Gabrielle Abbott did not receive funding support from any organisation for the submitted work. Dr Lisa-Marie Greenwood did not receive funding support from any organisation for the submitted work. Dr Jessica Bartschi did not receive funding support from any organisation for the submitted work. Dr Suraya Dunsford did not receive funding support from any organisation for the submitted work. Dr Gary Chan was supported by a NHMRC Investigator Grant (GNT1176137). Dr Nadia Solowij did not receive funding support from any organisation for the submitted work. Dr Antonio Verdejo-Garcia was supported by an NHMRC Investigator Leadership Grant (2009464). Dr Janna Cousijn did not receive funding support from any organisation for the submitted work. Ms Marianna Quinones Valera was funded by Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend scholarships. The work within the Neuroscience of Addition and Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre was supported via an ACU competitive scheme. Dr Valentina Lorenzetti was supported by an Al and Val Rosenstrauss Research Fellowship (2022–2026), and by a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant (2023–2027, ID 2016833) and an Australian Catholic University competitive scheme.

Keywords

Cannabis, Cannabis use disorder, Dosage, Emotion, Social cognition

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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