Does consideration of future consequences moderate the relationship between aggression and alcohol use in adolescents? Results from the United Kingdom

Abstract

Background: An increasing body of literature suggests that those who give greater consideration to the future consequences (CFC) of their present behaviours are at a reduced risk of negative health outcomes. However, it remains unclear to what degree consideration of immediate or long-term consequences are important. The present study examined whether higher CFC (immediate and future) scores moderated the relationship between trait aggression and self-reported alcohol use in a large sample of adolescents in the United Kingdom. Methods: Participants were 1058 adolescents from Northern Ireland. Participants completed questionnaires assessing Anger, Hostility, Verbal Aggression, Physical Aggression, Consideration of Future Consequences, and alcohol use. Results: Results revealed that higher CFC immediate and CFC future both significantly moderated the relationship between higher trait aggression and higher self-reported alcohol use, but only for females. Conclusions: This finding adds to the increasing body of literature examining the relationship between temporal orientation and health-related outcomes. However, more work is needed to help untangle the gender-specific effects.

• Aggression
• alcohol
• consideration of future consequences
• moderation introduction

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Séamus Harvey for his assistance with this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.