Newswise — Teens with high sensation seeking impulses and relatively low cognitive control are at elevated risk for binge drinking in early adulthood, a new study suggests. Young adults aged 18–25 report the highest rates of binge drinking in the previous month, a pattern that predicts later Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and other problem health behaviors. Two personality traits that evolve during adolescence and early adulthood — sensation seeking, the tendency to pursue novelty and excitement, and cognitive control, thinking before acting — are known to be related to binge drinking, or heavy episodic drinking (HED). Models of risky behavior among teens suggest that an imbalance involving higher sensation seeking and less-developed cognitive control may drive problem alcohol use. The study, in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, examined this imbalance over time as adolescents became young adults, and whether it was associated with binge drinking. Understanding these dynamic risk factors is key to designing strategies for preventing alcohol-related dysfunction through adulthood.
This study involved 715 participants from five areas of the USA who provided data between ages 16 and 20. The participants filled out questionnaires assessing their tendencies toward sensation seeking and premeditation (cognitive control), and their HED over the past year. They also underwent interviews, neuropsychological evaluations and brain scans, repeated annually. The investigators used statistical analyses to explore associations between levels of sensation seeking and premeditation, binge drinking, and certain demographic characteristics.
Overall, sensation seeking rose slightly from age 16 to 20 among boys and men and decreased slightly among girls and women. Being male was correlated with higher sensation seeking. Premeditation increased a little over the same time period for both men and women. HED among participants rose between ages 17 and 20; by age 20, most (59%) reported at least one binge drinking incident. Higher sensation seeking at 16 predicted greater binge drinking by age 20. Premeditation did not, suggesting that this trait does not independently drive that behavior in this age range. Nonetheless, higher sensation seeking relative to premeditation was a risk marker for binge drinking. A growing imbalance between sensation seeking and premeditation did not, however, predict changes in HED, possibly because of the limited age span of this study. Higher socioeconomic status and being white each correlated with more binge drinking.
This is the first known study that presents direct evidence that the imbalance between sensation seeking and premeditation may represent a distinct risk factor for drinking problems, as behavioral models predict. Sensation seeking in particular may be linked with greater alcohol use among adolescents. Interventions that address reward-driven impulses in teens, helping them delay gratification, may reduce their risk for binge drinking later. The researchers noted that these influences likely go in both directions; heavy alcohol use, for example, may affect brain functions such as premeditation. Other developmental factors are likely also involved in alcohol use risk. The researchers recommend further investigation, including on whether the findings apply to other forms of substance use and to racially and socioeconomically diverse populations.
Associations of developmental imbalance between sensation seeking and premeditation in adolescent and heavy episodic drinking in emerging adulthood. C. McCabe, T. Wall, M. Gonzalez, A. Meruelo, S. Eberson-Shumate, D. Clark, K. Nooner, S. Brown, S. Tapert (p xxx).
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Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research