How adult ADHD diagnosis relates to cannabis use and harms
Official title: ADHD diagnosis in adulthood: Implications for cannabis use and consequences
Funded at University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh · NIH-11130182 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether and how getting an ADHD diagnosis as an adult relates to patterns of cannabis use and negative consequences for adults with ADHD, with attention to differences between women and men.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2020 |
| Project end | May 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $717,286 |
| NIH project number | 2R01DA049721-06A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11130182 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults who have received an ADHD diagnosis (including diagnoses made in adulthood) and those who use or have used cannabis are the primary candidates, with comparisons across women and men.
✕Less likely to help
People without ADHD or those who have never used cannabis are unlikely to receive direct benefits from this specific research.
What this research studies
From your perspective, researchers will follow people from adolescence into adulthood and compare those diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood to others to see how cannabis use and related problems develop. They will collect information on cannabis use, psychiatric symptoms, treatment history (including stimulant use), and functional impacts using interviews, questionnaires, and existing records. The team will pay special attention to differences between women and men to understand sex-related risk patterns. Findings aim to clarify who is at higher risk for cannabis-related harms and why.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help tailor prevention and treatment strategies for cannabis problems in adults with ADHD, especially by identifying sex-specific risks.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research links ADHD to higher cannabis use, but sex-specific effects and the impact of adult ADHD diagnosis are under-studied, so this project addresses a known gap.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Molina, Brooke S.g. — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Molina, Brooke S.g.
Related research
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.