Age of drinking initiation as a mediator of the relationship between sensation seeking and heavy drinking among high school seniors

Abstract

Sensation seeking has been identified as a significant risk factor for adolescent alcohol use. Little is known, however, about the process by which sensation seeking impacts heavy alcohol use. The current study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships among sensation seeking, age of drinking initiation, and heavy alcohol use in a sample of high school seniors (N = 221). Results support age of drinking initiation as a mediator of the relationship between sensation seeking and heavy alcohol use. Implications include providing personality-targeted prevention to adolescents who display sensation-seeking traits to delay drinking initiation among these students.

Keywords:

• adolescent drinking
• age of drinking initiation
• sensation seeking

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Jaime Johnson, Kristen Shearer, Rhiannon Trull, and Laura Mundy for their assistance in participant recruitment and data collection.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences under Grant number U54GM104944. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.