[Functional and dysfunctional impulsivity in young binge drinkers]

The pattern of binge drinking (BD), found especially among young people, has become an important social and health problem. However, its prevalence has not been carefully studied until recently, together with its consequences in the mid and long run and the possible risk factors. The aim of this work is to study, for the first time, the possible differences in the dimensions of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity in Dickman's model among university students with BD and non-consumers of alcohol or control group. 80 subjects (40 men) with a pattern of BD and 80 controls (40 men) participated in the study, aged 18 to 25 (21,38 ± 1,91). They all completed Dickman's Impulsivity Inventory (DII, 1990). Several variables known to affect the results, such as circadian typology, were controlled for. The scores on dysfunctional impulsivity were higher in the BD group compared to the controls, while no differences were found according to functional impulsivity. Men showed a higher degree of impulsivity than women, both functional and dysfunctional, although in dysfunctional impulsivity this is significant only in the BD group. The DII has proven sensitive to detecting BD, and thus it could become an assessment tool to take into account in preventive or treatment approaches in the future.