The Relationship Between Measures of Impulsivity and Alcohol Misuse: An Integrative Structural Equation Modeling Approach
- 20 October 2011
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research
- Vol. 36 (6), 923-931
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01635.x
Abstract
Background: Higher levels of impulsivity have been implicated in the development of alcohol use disorders. Recent findings suggest that impulsivity is not a unitary construct, highlighted by the diverse ways in which the various measures of impulsivity relate to alcohol use outcomes. This study simultaneously tested the following dimensions of impulsivity as determinants of alcohol use and alcohol problems: risky decision making, self‐reported risk‐attitudes, response inhibition, and impulsive decision making. Methods: Participants were a community sample of nontreatment seeking problem drinkers (n = 158). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses employed behavioral measures of impulsive decision making (delay discounting task [DDT]), response inhibition (stop signal task [SST]), and risky decision making (Balloon Analogue Risk Task [BART]), and a self‐report measure of risk‐attitudes (domain‐specific risk‐attitude scale [DOSPERT]), as predictors of alcohol use and of alcohol‐related problems in this sample. Results: The model fits well, accounting for 38% of the variance in alcohol problems, and identified 2 impulsivity dimensions that significantly loaded onto alcohol outcomes: (i) impulsive decision making, indexed by the DDT; and (ii) risky decision making, measured by the BART. Conclusions: The impulsive decision‐making dimension of impulsivity, indexed by the DDT, was the strongest predictor of alcohol use and alcohol pathology in this sample of problem drinkers. Unexpectedly, a negative relationship was found between risky decision making and alcohol problems. The results highlight the importance of considering the distinct facets of impulsivity to elucidate their individual and combined effects on alcohol use initiation, escalation, and dependence.Keywords
This publication has 69 references indexed in Scilit:
- Is all risk bad? Young adult cigarette smokers fail to take adaptive risk in a laboratory decision-making testPsychopharmacology, 2011
- Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition and Cigarette Smoking in Late AdolescenceNeuropsychopharmacology, 2011
- Positive and Negative Reinforcement Underlying Risk Behavior in Early AdolescentsPrevention Science, 2010
- Alcohol demand, delayed reward discounting, and craving in relation to drinking and alcohol use disorders.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2010
- Delayed reward discounting predicts treatment response for heavy drinkers receiving smoking cessation treatmentDrug and Alcohol Dependence, 2009
- Impulsivity and response inhibition in alcohol dependence and problem gamblingPsychopharmacology, 2009
- Impulsivity as a determinant and consequence of drug use: a review of underlying processesAddiction Biology, 2008
- A test of alcohol dose effects on multiple behavioral measures of impulsivityDrug and Alcohol Dependence, 2008
- Smaller feedback ERN amplitudes during the BART are associated with a greater family history density of alcohol problems in treatment-naïve alcoholicsDrug and Alcohol Dependence, 2008
- Behavioral impulsivity predicts treatment outcome in a smoking cessation program for adolescent smokersDrug and Alcohol Dependence, 2007