The relation between risk-taking behavior and alcohol use in young adults is different for men and women

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

“…Studies suggest levels of impulsivity (measured by the BIS-11) predict unique variance in the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption (Fernie et al, 2010;Stanford et al, 2009), indicating that impulsive traits influence alcoholic drinking. Moreover, higher scores on the more recently developed RT-18 (de Haan et al, 2011), a brief risk-taking questionnaire, are found to be associated with, and predict, the quantity and frequency of alcohol use, and harmful drinking behaviour (de Haan et al, 2015;Stamates & Lau-Barraco, 2017). Based on such previous findings, and on potentially state dependent effects on behavioural measures (Lane et al, 2003), using self-report measures may be more beneficial for measuring personality traits as potential determinants of alcohol consumption behaviours.…”

“…Similarly, trait measures of risk-taking are found to be associated with alcohol use (de Haan et al, 2015;Stamates & Lau-Barraco, 2017). However, the majority of studies investigating risk-taking and alcohol consumption utilise behavioural tasks, which are limited in their predictive utility (Lane et al, 2003).…”

“…On the other hand, recent work has begun to delineate the predictive utility of risktaking behaviour (opposed to impulsivity) (Courtney et al, 2012;Fernie et al, 2010) and assessment of risk (de Haan et al, 2015;Stamates & Lau-Barraco, 2017) on alcohol use, although research in this regard, is in its infancy.…”

“…Indeed, behavioural tasks used to measure risktaking and impulsivity are state dependent (Lane, Rhoades, & Tcheremissine, 2003) and although these measures are suggested to predict alcohol use, performance on these tasks also appear to be affected by acute alcohol intoxication. Alternatively, self-report personality measures can capture apparent stable traits (Dick et al, 2010), and therefore may offer more understanding of impulsivity and risk-taking as a determinant (opposed to a consequence) of alcohol use (de Haan, Egberts, & Heerdink, 2015;Lane et al, 2003;Stamates & Lau-Barraco, 2017;Stanford et al, 2009). …”

“…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).…”