Document Type
Article - post-print
Publication Date
1-2014
Abstract
The personality trait of impulsivity is predictive of heavy drinking and consequences among college students. The current study examined how impulsivity—measured via positive urgency, negative urgency, and sensation seeking—and a person's beliefs about the role alcohol plays in the college experience relate to drinking and consequences in a sample of 470 college students (mean age = 19 years, 61.3% female, 59.8% white). In support of hypotheses, sensation seeking independently predicted greater drinking, and both positive and negative urgency predicted greater experience of alcohol-related negative consequences after controlling for consumption level. Moreover, alcohol beliefs moderated the relationship between impulsivity types and alcohol outcomes. Among students high (versus low) in sensation seeking, strong beliefs about alcohol's role in college life were related to significantly greater drinking, and among students high (versus low) in negative urgency, endorsing strong beliefs about alcohol's role in college life were related to greater levels of alcohol-related negative consequences. Overall, findings inform college prevention efforts by highlighting the need to distinguish unique facets of impulsivity and examine how they intersect with students’ beliefs about alcohol in college.
Publisher Statement
This is an author-manuscript of an article accepted for publication in Addictive Behaviors following peer review. The version of record: LaBrie, J. W., Kenney, S. R., Napper, L. E., & Miller, K. (2014). Impulsivity and Alcohol-Related Risk among College Students: Examining Urgency, Sensation Seeking and the Moderating Influence of Beliefs about Alcohol’s Role in the College Experience. Addictive Behaviors, 39(1), 10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.09.018 is available online at: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.09.018.
Recommended Citation
LaBrie, J. W., Kenney, S. R., Napper, L. E., & Miller, K. (2014). Impulsivity and Alcohol-Related Risk among College Students: Examining Urgency, Sensation Seeking and the Moderating Influence of Beliefs about Alcohol’s Role in the College Experience. Addictive Behaviors, 39(1), 10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.09.018.
