Heavy, Problematic College Drinking Predicts Increases in Impulsivity

Personality changes related to presence and treatment of substance use (disorders): a systematic review

Heavy substance use (SU) and substance use disorders (SUD) have complex etiologies and often severe consequences. Certain personality traits have been associated with an increased risk for SU(D), but far less is known about personality changes related to SU(D). This review aims to synthesize the existing literature on this research question. A systematic literature search was conducted from November 2022 to February 2023 in PubMed, EbscoHost, and Web of Science. Peer-reviewed original papers on SU(D)-related personality changes were included. Of 55 included studies, 38 were observational population-based studies and 17 were intervention studies. Overall, personality and SU measures, samples, study designs, and statistical approaches were highly heterogenous. In observational studies, higher SU was most consistently related to increases in impulsivity-related traits and (less so) neuroticism, while interventions in the context of SU(D) were mostly associated with increases in conscientiousness and self-efficacy and lasting decreases in neuroticism. Findings for traits related to extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were mixed and depended on SU measure and age. Studies on bidirectional associations suggest that personality and SU(D) both influence each other over time. Due to their strong association with SU(D), impulsivity-related traits may be important target points for interventions. Future work may investigate the mechanisms underlying personality changes related to SU(D), distinguishing substance-specific effects from general SU(D)-related processes like withdrawal, craving, and loss of control. Furthermore, more research is needed to examine whether SU(D)-related personality changes vary by developmental stage and clinical features (e.g. initial use, onset, remission, and relapse).

Longitudinal transactions between negative urgency and fasting predict binge eating

Fasting and negative urgency (the disposition to act rashly when distressed) are risk factors for binge eating. It may be that each influences the other over time to predict binge eating.

OBJECTIVE

This study tested whether (1) fasting predicts binge eating through negative urgency, and (2) negative urgency predicts binge eating through fasting.

METHOD

Path analysis and mediation tests were used to investigate objectives in n = 302 college women assessed three times over eight months. We controlled for each variable at the previous time point, and concurrent negative affect and body mass index at each time point.

RESULTS

Time 1 (T1) fasting predicted elevated negative urgency three months later at Time 2 (T2) and T2 negative urgency predicted increases in binge eating five months later at Time 3 (T3). T2 negative urgency mediated the relationship between T1 fasting and T3 binge eating. T1 negative urgency predicted increases in T2 fasting, which then predicted increases in T3 binge eating. T2 fasting mediated the relationship between T1 negative urgency and T3 binge eating.

DISCUSSION

Findings suggest fasting and negative urgency transact to predict binge eating among college women. Interventions targeting negative urgency may prevent or reduce both fasting and binge eating.

Longitudinal Associations between Sensation Seeking and Its Components and Alcohol Use in Young SWISS Men-Are There Bidirectional Associations?

The association between alcohol use and sensation seeking is well known. Less is known about whether longitudinal changes in alcohol use are associated with changes in sensation seeking and in which direction influence might flow. 5125 men aged 20.0 years old at baseline and 25.4 years old at follow-up responded to the Brief Sensation Seeking Questionnaire, which measures four subscales of experience seeking, boredom susceptibility, thrill- and adventure-seeking, and disinhibition. Alcohol use was measured using volume (drinks per week) and binge drinking (about 60 g or more per occasion). Associations were calculated using cross-lagged panel models and two-wave latent change score models. Correlations between the latent change scores for alcohol use and the sensation-seeking subscales were all positive, being largest for disinhibition (r > 0.3) and much smaller (r ~ 0.1) for the others. Disinhibition was the dominant effect over the entire sensation-seeking scale. Cross-lagged paths were (except for thrill- and adventure-seeking) bidirectional and mostly higher from alcohol use to sensation seeking (e.g., path_{volume-disinhibition} = 0.136, and path_{disinhibition-volume} = 0.072). Again, effects were highest for disinhibition. Given the bidirectional links between sensation seeking and alcohol use, preventive efforts aiming to achieve stable positive changes in alcohol use and personality should target both simultaneously and focus on disinhibition.

Extreme Binge Drinking During Adolescence: Associations With Subsequent Substance Use Disorders in American Indian and Mexican American Young Adults

OBJECTIVE

This study collected retrospective data on adolescent binge drinking (ABD) (5 drinks for boys, 4 for girls per occasion at least once per month) and/or extreme adolescent binge drinking (EABD) (10 or more drinks per occasion at least once per month) and tested for associations with demographic and diagnostics variables including alcohol and other substance use disorders (AUD/SUD).

METHODS

Cross-sectional data were collected from young adult (age 18-30 yrs) American Indians (AI) (n = 534) and Mexican Americans (MA) (n = 704) using a semi-structured diagnostic instrument.

RESULTS

Thirty percent (30%) of the sample reported ABD and 21% reported EABD. Those having had monthly ABD were more likely to be AI and have less education; those having had EABD were more likely to be AI, male, younger, have less education and lower economic status compared to participants without ABD. ABD/EABD was associated with higher impulsivity, a family history of AUD, and lower level of response to alcohol (ORs = 1.0-2.0), as well as with adult AUD (ORs = 3.7-48), other substance use disorders (ORs = 3.5-9), and conduct disorder/ antisocial personality disorder (ORs = 2.0-2.6), but not with anxiety/depression. Monthly EABD further increased the odds of AUD/SUD.

CONCLUSIONS

Although binge drinking was more common in AI compared to MA, there were little effects of race in individual risk factor analyses. Monthly ABD and EABD were common among these AI/MA as adolescents, and, as with other ethnic groups, these drinking patterns resulted in highly significant increases in the odds of developing alcohol and other substance use disorders in young adulthood.

Age dependent neural correlates of inhibition and control mechanisms in moderate to heavy drinkers

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Older age was associated with reductions in inhibition related activity.

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Older drinkers had greater reductions in frontal activity than younger drinkers.

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Men and women had opposite correlations between alcohol use severity and activity.

Background

Long-term, heavy alcohol consumption has been associated with impairments in control over alcohol use, but whether this extends to other areas of cognitive and behavioral control such as response inhibition remains unclear. Understanding individual differences in the neural correlates of response inhibition will provide further insight into the neurobiology of heavy drinking. The current study investigated response inhibition in a large sample of moderate to heavy drinkers

Methods

One hundred fifty-three individuals completed a stop signal task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Multiple regression analyses focused on blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response contrasts of correct inhibition and failed inhibition as dependent variables and included age, sex, and hazardous drinking (as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)), and their interactions, as independent variables

Results

Age was negatively associated with BOLD response in lateral inferior and middle frontal gyri, anterior cingulate cortex, and inferior parietal lobe for both successful inhibition and failed inhibition contrasts. In addition, there was a significant age × AUDIT interaction in the successful inhibition contrast in the left middle frontal gyrus, with significant negative correlations between AUDIT and BOLD response in older participants, and a significant positive correlation between AUDIT and BOLD response in younger participants

Conclusions

Age appears to be a particularly important factor in predicting BOLD response and may be a critical variable to include in future studies of heavy drinking and alcohol use disorder, particularly those that assess cognitive function. Finally, the age × AUDIT interaction observed in the current study may represent evidence for accelerated aging effects of alcohol on cognitive function.

Affective Risk for Problem Drinking: Reciprocal Influences Among Negative Urgency, Affective Lability, and Rumination

BACKGROUND

Affective disturbances have long been implicated in the onset and maintenance of problematic alcohol use. Affective risk theory for problem drinking has moved beyond early documentation that negative affect broadly confers risk to models specifying specific affectbased risk processes.

OBJECTIVE

This paper provides a theory-driven review of recent literature on the role of affect-based factors in the etiology of problematic alcohol use. First, we review recent advances in the understanding of affect-based risk for problem drinking. Second, we highlight the importance of three specific affect-based risk factors: urgency, affective lability, and rumination. Third, we offer hypotheses regarding the reciprocal relationships between specific risk factors and drinking problems. Finally, we suggest possible avenues for future research.

CONCLUSION

Recent advances in the understanding of reciprocal prediction between affect-based risk factors and problem drinking have set the stage for important new avenues of investigation into the risk process. Affect-based risk processes appear to influence each otherover time, and they influence and are influenced by problem drinking. Further understanding of these processes will pave the way for a new generation of intervention strategies.