Drug Addiction Endophenotypes: Impulsive Versus Sensation-Seeking Personality Traits

Abstract

BackgroundGenetic factors have been implicated in the development of substance abuse disorders, but the role of pre-existing vulnerability in addiction is still poorly understood. Personality traits of impulsivity and sensation-seeking are highly prevalent in chronic drug users and have been linked with an increased risk for substance abuse. However, it has not been clear whether these personality traits are a cause or an effect of stimulant drug dependence.MethodWe compared self-reported levels of impulsivity and sensation-seeking between 30 sibling pairs of stimulant-dependent individuals and their biological brothers/sisters who did not have a significant drug-taking history and 30 unrelated, nondrug-taking control volunteers.ResultsSiblings of chronic stimulant users reported significantly higher levels of trait-impulsivity than control volunteers but did not differ from control volunteers with regard to sensation-seeking traits. Stimulant-dependent individuals reported significantly higher levels of impulsivity and sensation-seeking compared with both their siblings and control volunteers.ConclusionsThese data indicate that impulsivity is a behavioral endophenotype mediating risk for stimulant dependence that may be exacerbated by chronic drug exposure, whereas abnormal sensation-seeking is more likely to be an effect of stimulant drug abuse.

Treatment outcomes of drug users in probation period: three months follow-up

“…The relation between novelty-seeking behaviour and substance use has also been demonstrated by many studies [28]. It is claimed that novelty-seeking behaviour is a component of impulsivity.…”

Premeditation moderates the relation between sensation seeking and risky substance use among young adults.

“…Although young adults may use certain substances primarily to seek stimulation (e.g., MDMA; Peters, Kok, & Abraham, 2008), a proportion of marijuana users may separately use to cope with negative emotional states such as anxiety (Bonn-Miller, Zvolensky, & Bernstein, 2007); thus, the relation between marijuana use, sensation seeking, and premeditation may be particularly attenuated by separate predictors of use such as coping motives, and we encourage future studies to address these relations. Moreover, we encourage others to address transactions and interactions between sensation seeking and premeditation predicting patterns of drug use in a longitudinal sample; some prior research suggests that impulsivity may be an earlier marker for drug abuse while sensation seeking a product of abuse (Ersche, Turton, Pradhan, Bullmore, & Robbins, 2010), yet the precise nature of these relations has yet to be investigated.…”

Factors Related to Burglary From the Perspective of Burglars: A Qualitative Study

“…These results significantly emphasize the importance of preventive plans to debar drug abuse, decrease crime rate in society, and improve social security. On the other hand, several studies reported sensation seeking as a strong factor to predict dangerous behaviors (23)(24)(25)(26). Sensation seeking is a personality factor that could be affected through training courses; considering the essential role of sensation seeking in committing burglary, it was suggested to formulize, implant, and evaluate plans to decrease negative sensation seeking, especially among teenagers and young adults.…”