IMPULSIVITY DISTINGUISHES DRINKING GROUPS AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

RIVAROLA MONTEJANO G; PAUTASSI R.M.; PILATTI, ANGELINA

Congreso; 2020 Virtual Poster Sessions of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA); 2020

Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA)

Underage alcohol use is an important health concern. Drinking behaviors are prevalent among Argentinean children/adolescents, with about 60% of drinkers exhibiting first contact with alcohol by the age of 15 or before. The present study aimed at identifying the prospective role of risk taking and trait-like impulsivity on drinking patterns in Argentinean teenagers. High school students (n = 953; 55.2% women; M age = 13.31±0.957) from Córdoba (Argentina), completed a survey that measured trait-like impulsivity and last-year alcohol use, and a computerized task to evaluate risk taking, via the BART test. Data collection occurred in 2 waves (Time 1 [T1] and Time 2 [T2]), 1 year apart. Participants were grouped in 4 categories based on their alcohol use across waves: (1) Abstainers [AA], (2) New Drinkers [ND] (i.e., began to drink in T2), (3) Former drinkers [FD] (with alcohol use in T1 but not in T2) and (4) Regular Drinkers [RD] (i.e., with alcohol use in T1 and T2). We conducted a multinomial regression analysis with abstainers as the reference category. ND Participants were more likely to be older than AA participants (OR = 1.691; p ≤ .001) and to exhibit greater level of sensation seeking (OR = 1.053; p = .008). RD, compared to AA, were more likely to be older (OR = 2.508; p ≤ .001) and to exhibit greater level of negative urgency (OR = 1.093; p ≤ .001), lack of premeditation (OR = 1.059; p = .027), lack of perseveration (OR = 1.054; p = .035), sensation seeking (OR = 1.098; p ≤ .001) and risk taking (OR = 1.018; p = .011). FD participants, compared to AA, exhibited greater level of sensation seeking (OR = 1.092; p = .022) and positive urgency (OR = 1.083; p = .015). The results indicate that trait-like impulsivity, particularly sensation seeking, predicted membership in the drinking categories. Being older distinguished between ND and RD from AA, and risk taking predicted membership in RD. This information, which helps disentangle predictors of underage drinking, suggests that impulsivity is relevant to discriminate among drinking groups, particularly between abstainers and regular drinkers.