Impulsigenic personality: Is urgency an example of the jangle fallacy?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Addiction Research
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Negative and positive urgency correlate with problem drinking and predict increased alcohol consumption.
• The validity of urgency as a distinct construct is questioned, with a hypothesis that it may represent an interaction between affect and lack of planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if negative urgency and positive urgency are functionally distinct from the interaction of affect and lack of planning.
• To test if urgency traits predict subsequent drinking behavior independently of the affect-impulsivity interaction.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal study was conducted on an adolescent sample.
• Statistical analyses examined the variance accounted for by urgency traits versus the interaction of affect and lack of planning.
• Prospective prediction of drinking onset and increases was assessed.

Main Results:

• The interaction of affect and lack of planning accounted for only 1-3% of the variance in negative or positive urgency.
• Negative and positive urgency prospectively predicted drinking behavior.
• The interaction terms did not predict drinking behavior.

Conclusions:

• Urgency traits are distinct constructs separate from the interaction between affect and lack of planning.
• Urgency measures are valid and necessary for understanding and predicting addictive behaviors like problem drinking.
• Findings support the development of distinct urgency risk models and measures.