Impulsivity during adolescent development: Insights from a decade of ABCD study longitudinal analyses

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study provides an unprecedented opportunity to examine how impulsivity develops and predicts health outcomes. This review synthesized longitudinal findings from the study's first decade and identified priories for future research.

Following Cochrane's guidelines, we systematically searched for peer-reviewed papers published through July 2025. Eligible studies included self-reported or task-based measures of impulsivity and used two or more data waves. Fifty-one studies met inclusion criteria.

Impulsivity was predominantly operationalized using self-report trait measures, particularly the UPPS-P or urgency-specific measures (k = 42) and BIS/BAS scales (k = 23); task-based measures used less often (k = 20). Across health domains, urgency, sensation seeking, and lack of premeditation (impulse control) showed recurring prospective associations, although findings varied across outcomes and studies. Findings involving task-based measures also varied across studies. Several studies examined impulsivity as an outcome of environmental exposures, supporting its developmental malleability, but few explicitly modeled changes in impulsivity over time. Few eligible studies examined neuroimaging measures, precluding firm conclusions about the magnitude or consistency of their associations.

Findings from ABCD extend prior impulsivity research by demonstrating that multiple self-reported impulsivity facets are early-emerging prospective correlates of health risk in a large preadolescent cohort. Divergence between self-report and task-based findings may reflect the multi-dimensionality of impulsivity and related constructs and highlights the need for standardized scoring across ABCD studies. The most important gap is the underutilization of ABCD's longitudinal design to model trajectories of impulsivity itself. As additional waves become available, the field is well-positioned to move from establishing associations to characterizing developmental trajectories, mechanisms, and modifiable influences.