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. 2015 Oct 13;17(10):e232. doi: 10.2196/jmir.4860

Table 3.

Baseline characteristics of participants.

Characteristics Study arm 1a (n=114) Study arm 2b (n=101) Study arm 3c (n=93) Total (n=308) χ2, ANOVAd, or Kruskal-Wallis test P
Sex, n (%)



χ2 2=4.3 (n=308) .12

Female 35 (30.7) 24 (23.8) 17 (18) 76 (24.7)


Male 79 (69.3) 77 (76.2) 76 (82) 232 (75.3)

Age in years, mean (SD) 28.4 (9.6) 30.2 (9.2) 31.0 (11.1) 29.8 (10.0) F 2,308=1.940 .15
Age range, n (%)



χ2 2=3.9 (n=308) .14

≤20 years 24 (21.1) 12 (11.9) 18 (19) 54 (17.5)


21-25 years 31 (27.2) 19 (18.8) 13 (14) 63 (20.5)


26-30 years 16 (14.0) 29 (28.7) 19 (20) 64 (20.8)


31-35 years 17 (14.9) 18 (17.8) 15 (16) 50 (16.2)


36-40 years 14 (12.3) 10 (9.9) 11 (12) 35 (11.4)


41-45 years 6 (5.3) 5 (5.0) 7 (8) 18 (5.8)


46+ years 6 (5.3) 8 (7.9) 10 (11) 24 (7.8)

Highest education, n (%)



χ2 10=8.6 (n=308) .57

Not specified 4 (3.5) 3 (3.0) 5 (5) 12 (3.9)


Primary school 18 (15.8) 12 (11.9) 11 (12) 41 (13.3)


Apprenticeship 43 (37.7) 38 (37.6) 41 (44) 122 (39.6)


Secondary school 19 (16.7) 13 (12.9) 17 (18) 49 (15.9)


Technical college 18 (15.8) 26 (25.7) 13 (14) 57 (18.5)


University 12 (10.5) 9 (8.9) 6 (7) 27 (8.8)

Origin, n (%)



χ2 6=8.1 (n=308) .23

Canton of Zurich 52 (45.6) 33 (32.7) 42 (45) 127 (41.2)


Other cantons 53 (46.5) 61 (60.4) 48 (52) 162 (52.6)


Germany 8 (7.0) 5 (5.0) 3 (3) 16 (5.2)


Other countries 1 (0.9) 2 (2.0) 0 (0) 3 (1.0)

CUDITe, mean (SD) 19.8 (5.8) 19.7 (6.4) 19.1 (6.2) 19.6 (6.1) F 2,308=0.37 .69
SDSf, mean (SD) 7.7 (3.5) 7.5 (3.6) 7.3 (3.2) 7.5 (3.4) F 2,308=0.37 .69
MHI-5g, mean (SD) 54.0 (19.3) 53.9 (20.0) 55.1 (22.6) 54.3 (20.5) F 2,308=0.11 .90
Number of years of substance use, mean (SD)






Cannabinoids 9.6 (7.4) 10.9 (7.6) 12.6 (10.0) 10.9 (8.4) F 2,305=3.29 .04h

Risky alcohol usei 2.5 (5.6) 2.6 (5.3) 2.7 (6.4) 2.6 (5.7) F 2,228=0.03 .97

Cocaine 1.1 (4.3) 1.4 (3.8) 0.8 (1.8) 1.1 (3.4) F 2,222=0.67 .52

Amphetamines 0.7 (2.0) 1.1 (3.1) 0.6 (2.0) 0.8 (2.4) F 2,208=0.91 .40
Substance use in the last 30 days, n (%)






Cannabinoids 112 (98.2) 100 (99.0) 93 (100) 305 (99.0) Not computable (no variance) N/Aj

Risky alcohol usei 40 (35.1) 26 (25.7) 31 (33) 97 (31.5) χ2 2=2.6 (n=226) .28

Tranquilizers 7 (6.1) 8 (7.9) 5 (5) 20 (6.5) χ2 2=0.6 (n=215) .74

Cocaine 7 (6.1) 14 (13.9) 10 (11) 31 (10.1) χ2 2=2.7 (n=223) .26

Amphetamines 16 (14.0) 13 (12.9) 14 (15) 43 (14.0) χ2 2=0.2 (n=221) .90

Hallucinogens 6 (5.3) 4 (4.0) 4 (4) 14 (4.5) χ2 2=0.6 (n=210) .76

Heroin 0 (0) 1 (1.0) 0 (0) 1 (0.3) χ2 2=1.8 (n=201) .40

Methadone 1 (0.9) 1 (1.0) 3 (3) 5 (1.6) χ2 2=1.9 (n=197) .40

Others 4 (3.5) 1 (1.0) 1 (1) 6 (1.9) χ2 2=3.1 (n=198) .21

aSelf-help with chat.

bSelf-help without chat.

cWaiting list.

dAnalysis of variance (ANOVA).

eCannabis Use Disorders Identification Test (CUDIT) scores range from 0 to 40 with a cutoff of >8 for a cannabis use disorder.

fSeverity of Dependence Scale (SDS) scores range from 0 to 15 with a cutoff of ≥4 for cannabis dependence.

gMental Health Inventory (MHI-5): higher values represent improved symptoms. MHI-5 values range from 0 to 100 with a cutoff of <70 for clinically relevant symptoms.

h P<.05, represents a significant value.

iRisky alcohol use was defined as five or more standard drinks per day on at least three days per week. A standard drink was defined as 5 cl spirits, 15-20 cl wine, or 33-45 cl beer.

jNot applicable (N/A).