The association between reinforcement sensitivity and substance use is mediated by individual differences in...

Adolescence marks the onset of substance use experimentation and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to certain negative effects of substances. Some evidence indicates reinforcement sensitivity is associated with substance use, though little is known about mechanisms underlying such association.

in the current study were to examine, (1) associations between behavioral activation (BAS) and behavioral inhibition (BIS) system sensitivity, positive (PA) and negative affectivity (NA), and alcohol use and alcohol problems as well as tobacco, and marijuana use, and whether (2) associations are mediated by PA or NA.

Participants were a community sample of N = 125 adolescents (M_age = 15.67 years; SD = 0.93; 52% boys) who completed self-report measures.

evinced associations, generally as expected, across variables (all ps < 0.05). In mediation analyses, an association emerged between BIS sensitivity and alcohol use, mediated by NA (95%CIs [0.034; 0.390]); greater BIS sensitivity was associated with greater NA and greater NA was associated with greater alcohol use. These findings were replicated with alcohol problems. An association also emerged between BAS sensitivity and marijuana use, mediated by PA (95%CIs [-0.296; -0.027]); greater BAS sensitivity was associated with greater PA and greater PA was associated with lower marijuana use. Finally, BIS sensitivity was associated with tobacco use through NA (95%CIs [0.023; 0.325]) and PA (95%CIs [0.004; 0.116]), with NA linked to greater, but PA linked to lower tobacco use. BAS sensitivity was also associated with tobacco use through PA (95%CIs [-0.395; -0.049]), with PA linked again to lower tobacco use.

There are unique and shared effects of domains of reinforcement sensitivity on adolescent substance use and these vary with index of dispositional affectivity and type of substance considered.