Differentiating action from inaction: Longitudinal relations among impulsive personality traits, internalizing...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Addiction Research
• Personality Science

Background:

• Impulsive personality traits are established risk factors for heavy alcohol consumption.
• Emerging theories suggest impulsivity also contributes to internalizing symptoms.
• The specific links between distinct impulsive traits, heavy drinking, and internalizing symptoms, and their role in alcohol consequences, require further clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prospective associations between specific impulsive traits and negative alcohol consequences.
• To examine whether heavy drinking and internalizing symptoms mediate the relationship between impulsivity and alcohol-related harm.
• To differentiate the roles of distinct impulsive traits (lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking, positive urgency, negative urgency) in predicting drinking and internalizing symptoms.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of 448 young adults assessed at three time points over one year.
• Longitudinal path modeling used to analyze indirect effects.
• Impulsive traits, heavy drinking, and internalizing symptoms (depression, anxiety, stress) were measured at baseline and six months to predict alcohol consequences at one year.

Main Results:

• Lack of premeditation predicted increased negative alcohol consequences via heavy drinking.
• Negative urgency indirectly predicted negative alcohol consequences through increased stress and depression.
• Sensation seeking indirectly predicted fewer negative alcohol consequences through decreased depression.
• Positive urgency predicted anxiety symptoms, but anxiety was not linked to negative alcohol consequences.

Conclusions:

• Distinct impulsive traits prospectively predict heavy drinking and internalizing symptoms.
• Both heavy drinking and internalizing symptoms mediate the pathway from impulsivity to negative alcohol consequences.
• Interventions targeting drinking for those lacking premeditation and internalizing symptoms for those high in negative urgency may reduce alcohol-related harm.