Impulsivity and the intention-behavior relation for emerging adult alcohol consumption

Date

2015-08

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Abstract

Consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior, several lines of evidence suggest behavioral intention to consume alcohol predicts alcohol use. However, the vast majority of studies have used between-person analyses to identify the intention-behavior relation as opposed to within-person designs. Further, the extent to which specific facets of impulsivity influence behavioral intention and in turn predict alcohol use has yet to be examined. As a part of a larger study, 77 participants (60.5% female, 76.3% White, M age = 20.8, SD = 1.9) completed daily diary reports of intention to use alcohol (operationalized as the total number of drinks that participants planned on consuming that day) and alcohol consumption (a retrospective report of alcohol consumption assessed the following day) across 10 days of assessment. Hierarchical linear models (HLM) were used to estimate the within-person relation between behavioral intention to drink and subsequent alcohol use. Unadjusted and adjusted models were reported and discussed. Results suggested there was a strong positive association between intention to consume alcohol and reported alcohol use (β = .55, p < .01; unadjusted model). Nine separate HLM models were conducted to test the relation between trait impulsivity (negative urgency, positive urgency, sensation seeking, lack of planning, and lack of perseverance as assessed by the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale), self-report delay discount (as assessed by the Monetary Choice Questionnaire [MCQ]), behaviorally-assessed impulsivity (response inhibition, response initiation, and delay discounting) and daily drinking. It was hypothesized that impulsivity would moderate the relation between intention and behavior, such that individuals higher in impulsivity would engage in unplanned drinking. Results from this study indicate that individuals higher in impulsive are not more likely to engage in more “impulsive” drinking (i.e., unplanned drinking). To test the extent to which impulsivity predicts intentions to drink which in turn predicts increased alcohol consumption, nine multilevel mediation models were conducted. In the unadjusted models, positive urgency, negative urgency, sensation seeking, and self-report delay discounting significantly predicted daily alcohol consumption, such that increased impulsivity was associated with increased alcohol consumption in the unadjusted models. However, within-person intention did not significantly mediate the relation between impulsivity and alcohol consumption. When using overall intention (i.e., between-person) as the mediator, there were significant indirect effects (IE) of positive urgency, negative urgency, sensation seeking, and self-report delay discounting (IE = .02, CI = .01, .03; IE = .02, CI = .01, .03; IE = .02, CI = .01, .03; IE = 8.11, CI = 5.50, 11.02, respectively). When adjusting for age, gender, and day of the week, the IE of positive urgency and delay discounting remained significant, indicating that these findings are robust to gender (which is suspected to account for the variance in the non-significant models). In this study, there were no significant direct or indirect effects of behaviorally-assessed impulsivity detected, and these variables were not correlated with self-report impulsivity. These findings suggest that impulsive decision-making is less of a problem among college students, but that this sample reflects a general tendency to plan and engage in heavy drinking. Thus, clinical interventions should target drinking intention directly.

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Keywords

Alcohol Use, Planned Behavior, Impulsivity, Intentions, Multilevel Modeling

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