Distress-driven impulsivity interacts with trait compulsivity in association with problematic drinking: A two-sample study

Abstract

ObjectiveProblematic drinking is highly prevalent among the general population, oftentimes leading to significant negative consequences, including physical injury, psychological problems and financial hardship. In order to design targeted early interventions for problematic drinking, it is important to understand the mechanisms that render individuals at risk for and/or maintain this behavior. Two candidate drivers of problematic drinking are distress-driven impulsivity and trait compulsivity, with recent research suggesting these constructs may interact to enhance risk for addictive behaviors. The current study examined whether individual differences in distress-driven impulsivity and trait compulsivity interact in relation to problematic drinking.MethodDistress-driven impulsivity (indexed by the S-UPPS-P negative urgency subscale), trait compulsivity (indexed by the CHIT scale) and problematic drinking (indexed by the BATCAP alcohol scale) were assessed in two independent online samples (Sample 1, n = 117; Sample 2, n = 474). Bootstrapped moderation analysis was conducted to examine whether trait compulsivity moderated the relationship between distress-driven impulsivity and problematic drinking.ResultsIn both samples, there was a significant interaction between distress-driven impulsivity and trait compulsivity in relation to problematic drinking. Follow-up tests revealed that, in both samples, higher distress-driven impulsivity was associated with more problematic drinking behaviors among participants with high trait compulsivity only.ConclusionsThe current findings add to the growing literature supporting an interactive relationship between impulsivity and compulsivity-related traits in relation to addictive behaviors and have implications for informing early detection of risk and targeted early interventions.

Bridging the links between Big Five personality traits and problematic smartphone use: A network analysis

“…By pinpointing specific pathways that link the Big Five personality traits to PSU, our results support prior theoretical assumptions on mechanisms underlying PSU. Specifically, it has been proposed that the excessive reassurance pathway linking Neuroticism and PSU is relevant to negative reinforcement i.e., individuals engage in smartphone use as a coping strategy to address negative emotions ( Elhai et al., 2017 ; Pivetta et al., 2019 ), a well-documented mechanism underlying addictive behaviours ( Baker, Piper, McCarthy, Majeskie, & Fiore, 2004 ; Liu et al., 2021 ; Liu, Rotaru, Chamberlain, Ren, et al., 2022 ; Liu, Rotaru, Chamberlain, Yücel, et al., 2022 ). In line with this view, numerous studies reported positive associations between Neuroticism and overall PSU ( Gao et al., 2020 ; Marengo et al., 2020 ).…”

Animal models of compulsion alcohol drinking: Why we love quinine-resistant intake and what we learned from it

“…In addition, groups have emphasized the fundamental role of conflict for compulsive aspects of addiction (19, 22, 58) (discussed in Section 2), as well as high motivation, reflected in https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/surveillance /figures .htm# f part by continuation of responding despite the cost of dealing with negative consequences (3,27). Other aspects of compulsion, including considerations and caveats, are discussed in several recent reviews (59)(60)(61)(62)(63), and we predominantly agree with the points they detail in our publications (64)(65)(66)(67)(68)(69)(70). These include (1) considerations of overfocus on compulsion, to the detriment of overlooking other factors that can contribute to addiction (59-61, 65, 71) (above), (2) the importance of considering compulsion for alcohol when adapting the NIMH RDoC framework for addiction (3,72,73), and (3) the importance of agency and knowledge of choosing during recovery from compulsion-like drinking pattern (19,20,74,75).…”

Cognitive inflexibility moderates the relationship between relief-driven drinking motives and alcohol use

“…This inability to shift attention away from previously rewarding cues, paired with high relief-based motives, may predict harmful drinking through persistence of maladaptive coping strategies despite its negative consequences ( Cox and Klinger, 1988 , Wiers et al, 2007 ). Our team recently found this effect at the trait-level, using a trait compulsivity self-report questionnaire to reflect cognitive inflexibility, across two independent samples of people who consume alcohol ( Albertella et al, 2020 , Liu et al, 2022 , Liu et al, 2022 ). Specifically, we found that trait compulsivity moderated the association between distress-driven impulsivity and problematic drinking in university students and a general community sample ( Liu et al, 2022 , Liu et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Our team recently found this effect at the trait-level, using a trait compulsivity self-report questionnaire to reflect cognitive inflexibility, across two independent samples of people who consume alcohol ( Albertella et al, 2020 , Liu et al, 2022 , Liu et al, 2022 ). Specifically, we found that trait compulsivity moderated the association between distress-driven impulsivity and problematic drinking in university students and a general community sample ( Liu et al, 2022 , Liu et al, 2022 ). It is important, however, to determine whether this effect can be observed at the objective cognitive level, via cognitive flexibility tasks, and in more population-representative samples, which to our knowledge, has not been evaluated in alcohol use, thus far.…”