Personality variability during development predicts alcohol use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Public Health

Background:

• Adolescence is a critical period for personality development and substance use initiation.
• Societal crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can disrupt normative development and increase stress, potentially impacting adolescent behavior.
• Understanding how personality changes influence alcohol use during such crises is crucial for public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the longitudinal relationship between intra-individual personality changes during adolescence and alcohol use.
• To examine how these personality dynamics predict alcohol use at different timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To explore potential gender differences in the association between anxiety and alcohol use.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal data from the European IMAGEN cohort (N=968) were analyzed.
• Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) were used to assess non-linear relationships.
• Personality changes (anxiety sensitivity, openness) and alcohol use frequency were measured across multiple timepoints, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, controlling for sex and lockdown stringency.

Main Results:

• Increased anxiety sensitivity during adolescence predicted higher alcohol use several months into the COVID-19 pandemic (T2).
• Pre-pandemic alcohol use was associated with changes in openness.
• Exploratory analyses indicated gender differences in anxiety-related drinking.

Conclusions:

• Adolescent personality dynamics significantly shape alcohol use patterns, especially in response to societal stressors like the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Different personality traits may influence alcohol use depending on the temporal and emotional context of the stressor.
• Findings support the development of personalized prevention strategies for stress-related substance use in adolescents.