Citation

LaBrie JW, Kenney SR, Napper LE, Miller K. Addict. Behav. 2014; 39(1): 159-164.

Affiliation

Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Suite 4700, Los Angeles, CA 90045, United States. Electronic address: jlabrie@lmu.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.09.018

PMID

24120644

Abstract

The personality trait of impulsivity is predictive of heavy drinking and consequences among college students. The current study examined how impulsivity-measured via positive urgency, negative urgency, and sensation seeking-and a person's beliefs about the role alcohol plays in the college experience relate to drinking and consequences in a sample of 470 college students (mean age=19years, 61.3% female, 59.8% White). In support of the hypotheses, sensation seeking independently predicted greater drinking, and both positive urgency and negative urgency predicted greater experience of alcohol-related negative consequences after controlling for consumption level. Moreover, alcohol beliefs moderated the relationship between impulsivity types and alcohol outcomes. Among students high (versus low) in sensation seeking, strong beliefs about alcohol's role in college life were related to significantly greater drinking, and among students high (versus low) in negative urgency, endorsing strong beliefs about alcohol's role in college life were related to greater levels of alcohol-related negative consequences. Overall, findings inform college prevention efforts by highlighting the need to distinguish unique facets of impulsivity and examine how they intersect with students' beliefs about alcohol in college.

Language: en