The effect of impulsivity and drinking motives on alcohol outcomes in college students: a 3-year longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Objective: Substance use is a public health concern and cross-sectional studies have found that impulsivity and drinking motives influence substance use in emerging adults. Despite these findings, longitudinal studies with nuanced measures of impulsivity and drinking motives are needed. Participants: The current study investigated the three-year relationship between impulsivity-related traits, drinking motives, sex, and drinking outcomes in a sample of 509 college students (47.47% male; 81% White). Methods: The effects of impulsivity traits and drinking motives on problematic drinking outcomes were evaluated using linear mixed effects models. Results: The results confirmed the hypothesized relationship between traits of impulsivity, drinking motives, and alcohol outcomes over time. Further, sex significantly interacted with drinking motives longitudinally in its relationship with alcohol use outcomes. Conclusions: These results indicate that intervention efforts may need to be tailored to specific individual attributes to target direct correlates of alcohol use behavior to increase effectiveness.

Keywords:

• Alcohol
• drinking motives
• impulsivity
• longitudinal
• sex

Acknowledgment

NIDA had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Conflict of interest disclosure

All authors have given final approval of the version to be published. My coauthors and I do not have any conflicts of interest or activities that might be interpreted as influencing the research submitted, and this study was conducted in accordance with APA ethical standards. This research has not been presented at a conference and is not under consideration for publication with any other journals.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded to Zachary Adams (K23-DA038257). It was also supported by grants R25 DA035163 (PI: Sorenson) and P50 DA05312 (PI: Kelly) to Sycarah Fisher. Funding for this study was provided by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Grant (NIDA 005312) to the University of Kentucky Center for Drug Abuse Research Translation (CDART).