Although lifetime cannabis use is highly prevalent in Dutch detained youth, recent interventions aimed at reducing substance use in this population have shown limited effectiveness. The present study therefore examined possible predictors for cannabis use to gain a better understanding of the underlying determinants of their behaviour. 

Adolescents experiencing higher levels of hopelessness may be particularly prone to using cannabis as a maladaptive coping strategy to regulate their negative emotional states. Within this framework, hopelessness can be conceptualized as a personality-based vulnerability that heightens emotional distress and undermines adaptive coping strategies. Hopelessness may be linked to internalizing difficulties, as it is characterized by negative emotions it may predispose adolescents to experience persistent emotional distress. Heightened internalizing problems may in turn increase the likelihood of using cannabis as a coping strategy in the perspective of the self-medication hypothesis. Adolescents with lower levels of self-control may struggle with regulating their negative affective states, which can increase the likelihood that internalizing problems translate into cannabis use. In contrast, higher levels of self-control may act as a protective factor against this risk. 

A moderated mediation model was therefore employed to test whether internalizing problems mediated the relationship between hopelessness and cannabis use, and whether self-control moderates this relationship.