Impulsive Sensation Seeking, Parental History of Alcohol Problems, and Current Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Adolescents

Abstract

Objectives-This study attempted to evaluate whether impulsive sensation seeking mediated the relationship between parental alcohol problems and offspring alcohol and tobacco use.Methods-Participants were Connecticut high school students (n = 2733) completing a survey of high-risk behaviors. Variables of interest included past month alcohol use, past month binge alcohol use, frequency of past month alcohol use, past month tobacco use, having a biological parent with an alcohol problem, and score on the impulsive sensation seeking (ImpSS) scale from the ZuckermanKuhlman Personality Questionnaire -Form III.Results-ImpSS scores were elevated in past month users of alcohol, binge users of alcohol, users of both tobacco and alcohol, and they increased with increasing frequency of past month alcohol use. Also, parental history of alcohol use increased the likelihood of past month alcohol use, binge use, use of both tobacco and alcohol, and higher levels of past month alcohol use. Mediational analyses did not appear to support the hypothesis that impulsive sensation seeking mediates the relationship between parental history of alcohol problems and alcohol and tobacco use in offspring.Conclusions-Impulsive sensation seeking and parental history of alcohol problems appear to be independent factors that contribute to the co-occurrence of alcohol and tobacco use in adolescents. These findings can inform prevention and treatment efforts. KeywordsAlcohol; tobacco; adolescent; impulsive behavior; sensation seeking Impulsivity and sensation seeking are personality traits that appear to influence risk-taking generally, and substance use processes more specifically. Moeller and colleagues 1 have defined impulsivity as a tendency to act quickly without thinking ahead about consequences; Zuckerman 2 has defined sensation seeking as a tendency to take risks in order to seek out novel, stimulating experiences. Both impulsivity and sensation seeking are positively correlated with current alcohol use and current heavy episodic alcohol use among adults and adolescents, [3][4][5][6] and both traits have been hypothesized to play a role in the initiation of alcohol use and in alcohol use disorder (AUD) development. 7,8 Corresponding Author: Ty S. Schepis, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519, Among adolescents, higher sensation seeking levels have been associated with regular alcohol use in a large cross-national sample, 9 and appear to predict longitudinal increases in alcohol use over a three year period. 10 Furthermore, it appears that interventions that target sensation seeking in adolescents can delay the onset and progression of alcohol use and binge use. 11 In all, sensation seeking appears to exert direct and indirect promotional effects on alcohol use, 3, 12, 13 and a meta-analysis using 61 pooled studies found that sensation seeking had a small to moderate effect size on promoting alcohol use. 14 Examinations of impulsivity have also found that it is ass...

Correlates of gambling on high-school grounds

“…Possible limitations relate to the sample, as this sample is not random; however, demographics were consistent with those reported in the 2000 Census of Connecticut residents between the ages of 14–18 (Bureau, 2000; Schepis et al, 2008). Moreover, these data may not reflect current prevalence rates, and further work is needed to better understand forms of gambling that are growing in popularity, including gambling via social media.…”

Relationships Between Perceived Family Gambling and Peer Gambling and Adolescent Problem Gambling and Binge-Drinking

“…Full recruitment and consenting procedures and sample characteristics have been described in detail previously (Schepis et al 2008). Briefly, invitations to participate were extended to all 4-year and non-vocational or special-education high-schools in the state of Connecticut.…”

“…Less than 1% of student refused to participate. Detailed descriptions of the recruitment procedures, variables, and classification of responses were previously presented (Potenza et al 2011; Schepis et al 2008; Yip et al 2011). The survey consisted of 154 questions assessing a broad range of demographic characteristics, health/functioning measures, gambling (defined to students as “any game you bet on for money or anything else of value”), substance use and other risk behaviors, and included items derived from established measures (e.g., Massachusetts Gambling Screen, Shaffer et al 1994) and national surveys (e.g., Youth Cihild Risk Behavior Survey, Eisenmann et al 2002; and National Gambling Impact Study 2007).…”

“…Demographic findings for the overall survey have been previously published (Schepis et al 2008; Yip et al 2011). Sample demographics were consistent with those reported in the 2000 Census of Connecticut residents aged 14–18 years.…”

Impulsive Personality and Alcohol Use: Bidirectional Relations Over One Year

“…A large body of research has demonstrated the relevance of impulsive personality to substance use risk, because impulsive traits have been shown to relate to substance use/problems both concurrently and prospectively (Ball et al, 1994;Carlson et al, 2010;Corbin et al, 2011;Grau & Ortet, 1999;Horvath et al, 2004;Lynam & Miller, 2004;Milich et al, 2000;Miller et al, 2003;Puente et al, 2008;Schepis et al, 2008;Sher et al, 2000;Verdejo-García et al, 2007). Further support for impulsivity's contribution to the development of problematic substance use comes from studies of individuals identified as at risk for substance dependence based on family history, who have been found to be more impulsive on a variety of measures (Acheson et al, 2011;Handley et al, 2011;Tarter et al, 2003).…”