Gender- and age-varying associations of sensation seeking and substance use across young adulthood

Abstract

Introduction: Sensation seeking is associated with elevated risk for substance use among adolescents and young adults. However, whether these associations vary across age for young men and women is not well characterized. Methods: Using data from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study, we examine the age-varying associations of sensation seeking and three types of substance use behavior (binge drinking, cigarette use, and marijuana use) across ages 18 to 30 using time-varying effect modeling. Analyses include participants in the eleven most recent MTF cohorts (12th-graders in 1994-2004), who are eligible to respond through age 29/30 (N=6,338 people; 30,237 observations). Results: While sensation seeking levels and substance use are lower among women, the magnitude of the association of sensation seeking with binge drinking and with marijuana use among women exceeds that of men in the later 20s. Differential age trends were observed; among men, the associations generally decreased or remained constant with age. Yet among women, the associations decayed more slowly or even increased with age. Specifically, the association of sensation seeking with marijuana use among women increased during the late 20s, such that the association at age 30 exceeded that in the early 20s. Conclusions: The significantly stronger associations of sensation seeking with binge drinking and marijuana use observed among women compared to men during the mid- to late-20s suggests divergent risk factors across genders for substance use during young adulthood, with sensation seeking remaining a strong risk factor for women but not men.

To do or not to do – A survey study on factors associated with participating in the Danish Screening Program for Colorectal Cancer

“…Among men, having a moderate to high willingness to engage in/accept health risks was found to be a barrier for CRC screening. This nding is in line with prior studies indicating that a personal disposition like sensation-seeking is associated with more risky health behavior [19].…”

To do or not to do – A survey study on factors associated with participating in the Danish screening program for colorectal cancer

“…That high income was a positive predictor for screening participation in the entire study population as well as in individual educational subgroups is a nding consistent with the literature [7,16,19], but might nevertheless be considered surprising since participation in Denmark is free of charge. It is therefore likely that the in uence of income is not a directly enabling one but might be mediated by differing subcultural norms, concerns and bene t expectations.…”

“…An unexpected effect occurred for education. Commonly, a higher level of education has been identi ed as a facilitator for screening participation [7,19], and this was also the case in a prior Danish study based on registry data [16]. In contrast to that, in our study we observed that among the total group as well as in all individual income groups, people with the longest education (more than appr.…”

The Role of Age and Gender in Perceived Vulnerability to Infectious Diseases

“…In a behavioral context, men are more into fitness, health risk activities, and sensation seeking, being more indifferent to infectious and contagion signs than women [25,31]. The peak point in health risk behaviors, such as extreme sport, alcohol and drug consumption, driving, and sexual activities undertaken by men has been suggested to correspond to an age of 35 [38], whilst sensation seeking has been suggested to peak in the twenties [39]. On the other hand, women are more concerned about infectious or contagious clues when they are of child-bearing age, pregnant or raising young children, which occurs in younger women [23,30].…”