Citation

Hittner JB, Warner MA, Swickert RJ. Int. J. Adolesc. Med. Health 2015; 28(1): 91-96.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Freund Publishing)

DOI

10.1515/ijamh-2015-0005

PMID

25781668

Abstract

High sensation seekers engage in more frequent substance use and perceive a host of potentially dangerous activities as less risky than do low sensation seekers. However, despite a plethora of research on these topics, no study has examined the extent to which personal substance use mediates the association between sensation seeking and perceived risk of substance use. To address this question, we recruited a sample of 79 young adults (mean age=19.1 years, standard deviation=1.4). Participants completed questionnaire measures of sensation seeking, substance use, and perceived risk of co-occurrent substance use.

RESULTS from path-analytic modeling indicated that both alcohol use and marijuana use mediated the influence of sensation seeking on perceptions of risk for moderately risky, but not highly risky, pairs of substances. Strengths and limitations of the present study were discussed and directions for future research were suggested.

Language: en