Different measures of Behavioural Activation System (BAS) sensitivity uniquely predict problem drinking among college students

Abstract

This study investigated the predictive value of two alternative and most widely used measures of Behavioural Activation System (BAS) sensitivity on problematic alcohol use. Participants were 84 college students who completed a measure of alcohol problem severity (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, AUDIT) and two different measures of BAS sensitivity [the BAS and Sensitivity to Reward (SR) scales]. They were divided into 42 problem drinkers and 42 non-problem drinkers based on the AUDIT scores. In a logistic regression controlling for gender and age, BAS and SR scale scores uniquely predicted problem from non-problem drinking. Similarly, multiple regression of the entire sample revealed that, after gender and age had been controlled, BAS and SR scale scores predicted unique variance in AUDIT scores. Moreover, both regressions showed that the SR scale was superior in terms of predictive power. The findings indicate the advantage of including both scales when predicting problematic drinking, but that, if choosing between the two, the SR scale is the better predictor of problem drinking.

Keywords:

• problem drinking
• college students
• Behavioural Activation System