Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity and Marijuana Use Coping Motives: A Test of the Mediating Role of Non-judgmental Acceptance Within a Trauma-exposed Community Sample

We examined the role of non-judgmental acceptance in the relation between posttraumatic stress symptom severity and marijuana use coping motives. These relations were examined among 97 (46 women) adults (M age = 21.57 years, SD = 6.32) who met DSM-IV-defined PTSD Criterion A for at least one traumatic event exposure and reported using marijuana in the past 30 days. Consistent with expectation, greater levels of posttraumatic stress symptom severity were associated with greater levels of coping-oriented marijuana use motives, as well as lower levels of non-judgmental acceptance. Furthermore, non-judgmental acceptance was inversely associated with coping-oriented marijuana use motives. Finally, non-judgmental acceptance was found to partially mediate the association between posttraumatic stress symptom severity and marijuana use coping motives. Results are discussed in terms of better understanding the role of non-judgmental acceptance in coping-oriented marijuana use among trauma-exposed populations