Impulsivity and alcohol-related risk among college students: Examining urgency, sensation seeking and the moderating influence of beliefs about alcohol's role in the college experience

Abstract

The personality trait of impulsivity is predictive of heavy drinking and consequences among college students. The current study examined how impulsivity—measured via positive urgency, negative urgency, and sensation seeking—and a person's beliefs about the role alcohol plays in the college experience relate to drinking and consequences in a sample of 470 college students (mean age = 19 years, 61.3% female, 59.8% white). In support of hypotheses, sensation seeking independently predicted greater drinking, and both positive and negative urgency predicted greater experience of alcohol-related negative consequences after controlling for consumption level. Moreover, alcohol beliefs moderated the relationship between impulsivity types and alcohol outcomes. Among students high (versus low) in sensation seeking, strong beliefs about alcohol's role in college life were related to significantly greater drinking, and among students high (versus low) in negative urgency, endorsing strong beliefs about alcohol's role in college life were related to greater levels of alcohol-related negative consequences. Overall, findings inform college prevention efforts by highlighting the need to distinguish unique facets of impulsivity and examine how they intersect with students’ beliefs about alcohol in college.

Understanding the Association Between Relative Sociability Prototypes and University Students' Drinking Intention

“…There were also robust associations between weaker intentions to heed government drinking recommendations and lower conscientiousness and higher sensation seeking impulsivity. These findings reflect previous links demonstrated between increased risk of harmful drinking among students with higher levels of sensation seeking impulsivity (Loxton, Bunker, Dingle, & Wong, 2015;LaBrie et al, 2014); higher levels of extraversion (Hakulinen, Elovainio, Batty, Virtanen, Kivimäki, & Jokela, 2015;Martsh & Miller, 1997) and lower levels of conscientiousness (Ham & Hope, 2003; Kashdan et al, 2005). Contrary to hypothesised effects, personality was not typically supported as a moderator of the relationship between relative sociability prototypes and drinking intention, yet some evidence was found to support the role of extraversion as a moderator of the relationship between relative sociability prototypes and intention to get drunk.…”

“…Harmful drinking among university students has also been linked to personality factors such as lower levels of conscientiousness (de Visser, Hart, Abraham, Graber, Scanlon, & Memon, 2014; Kashdan, Vetter, & Collins, 2005;Vollrath & Torgersen, 2002), and higher levels of extraversion (de Visser et al, 2014;Prescott, Neale, Corey, & Kendler, 1997;Ruch, 1994) and sensation seeking impulsivity (de Visser et al, 2014;LaBrie, Kenney, Napper, & Miller, 2014;Yanovitsky, 2006). Previous research conducted among UK university students has demonstrated associations between alcohol prototypes, personality traits and AUDIT scores (Atwell, Abraham, & Duka, 2011).…”

Relational aggression, positive urgency and negative urgency: Predicting alcohol use and consequences among college students.

“…Excessive drinking poses a range of risks, from poor academic performance to serious injuries (Hingson, Edwards, Heeren, & Rosenbloom, 2009). Previous research has suggested that impulsive personality characteristics are important predictors of alcohol-related risk (Curcio & George, 2011; LaBrie, Kenney, Napper, & Miller, 2014). In addition, aggressive behavior is positively associated with alcohol use among adolescents and college students (Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykens, & Castillo, 1994; Wells, Graham, Speechley, & Koval, 2005).…”

The influence of groups and alcohol consumption on individual risk-taking

“…However, their association with alcohol use is complex, as heightened impulsivity and risk-taking are suggested to be predictors of excessive alcohol use, as well as the consequence of acute intoxication (de Wit, 2008). Much support has been found for the notion that impulsivity drives problematic alcohol use (Curcio & George, 2011;Hyucksun, Grace, & Jeon, 2012;LaBrie, Kenney, Napper, & Miller, 2014;Mackillop et al, 2011), though less research has addressed the role of risk-taking in predicting alcohol-related issues (de Haan et al, 2015;Stamates & Lau-Barraco, 2017). The lack of research surrounding risk-taking as a determinant of alcohol use may be partly explained by researchers interchangeable use of impulsivity and risk-taking as synonymous constructs, whereas many argue that they are distinct from one another (Fernie et al, 2010;Stamates & Lau-Barraco, 2017).…”