Within-person variability in sensation-seeking during daily life: Positive associations with alcohol use and self-defined risky behaviors.

Sensation-seeking is the seeking of varied, novel, and intense experiences and the willingness to take risks in order to engage in these experiences. Sensation-seeking is robustly associated with engagement in risky behaviors but important questions remain concerning the role of within-person variability in sensation-seeking. We use data from a 21-day daily diary protocol from 167 participants (mean age = 25.37, SD = 7.34) to test day-to-day, within-person associations between sensation-seeking and both alcohol use and self-reported risk-taking. Participants also reported the riskiest behavior they engaged in each day, allowing insight into the types of risks that participants take during the course of daily life. Multilevel model results indicate that days of higher than usual sensation-seeking are more likely to be days on which alcohol is consumed relative to days of no alcohol use, and that risk-taking is higher than usual on days of higher than usual sensation-seeking. Coupling natural language processing with network science tools, we reduce 2490 self-reports of the day’s riskiest behavior to 20 communities reflecting a wide range of risk domains, including social, school, work, and drug use risks. Creating a risk-taking diversity score based on the identified domains of participant-elicited risk behaviors, we find that trait sensation-seeking is positively associated with greater diversity in the types of risks reported. In sum, we capture day-to-day fluctuations in sensation-seeking, observe that sensation-seeking and both alcohol use and risky behaviors are associated at the within-person level, and provide insight into the types of risks taken during the course of daily life.

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Alcohol use in daily life: Examining the role of trait and state impulsivity facets

10.31234/osf.io/u3v7q ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah A Griffin ◽

Timothy J Trull

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Use ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Daily Life ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Trait Level ◽

Trait Impulsivity ◽

Drinking Behaviors ◽

Ecological Momentary

Objectives: Using Ecological Momentary Assessment methods (EMA) we aimed to investigate the influence of trait and state (momentary) impulsivity on alcohol use behaviors in daily life. Facets of the UPPS trait model of impulsivity (Whiteside and Lynam, 2001) have been found to differentially relate to alcohol-related outcomes and behaviors in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. The present work expands on this by assessing UPPS facets in daily life and examining the contributions of trait and state impulsivity facets to daily life drinking behavior. Methods: 49 participants were prompted at least six times per day for 21 days. A total of 4,548 collected EMA reports were included in analyses. Multi-level models were computed predicting daily life alcohol use behaviors from state and trait impulsivity facets and relevant covariates. Results: Individual facets of momentary impulsivity differentially related to alcohol outcomes, such that (lack of) premeditation and, to a lesser extent, sensation seeking showed unique patterns of association with drinking and drinking quantity. Only trait levels of (lack of) premeditation were related to drinking behavior in daily life; no other trait UPPS scale significantly related to alcohol use. Conclusions: These results highlight state difficulties with premeditation as particularly relevant to drinking behavior in daily life. Our results also support the incremental validity of state impulsivity facets over trait level measures in relation to drinking behavior in daily life. These findings offer important insight into the phenomenology of daily-life alcohol use and highlight possible avenues for intervention and prevention efforts. Public Health Statement: Momentary fluctuations in premeditation predict alcohol use in daily life. Treatments targeting planning or forethought in relation to alcohol use may interrupt this process contributing to daily life drinking behaviors.

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Daily sensation-seeking and urgency in young adults: Examining associations with alcohol use and self-defined risky behaviors

Addictive Behaviors ◽

10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107219 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107219

Author(s):

A.L. McGowan ◽

E.B. Falk ◽

P. Zurn ◽

D.S. Bassett ◽

D.M. Lydon-Staley

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Risky Behaviors

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Social Rejection and Alcohol Use in Daily Life

Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research ◽

10.1111/acer.13347 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

pp. 820-827 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Holly B. Laws ◽

Nicole E. Ellerbeck ◽

Alyne S. Rodrigues ◽

Jessica A. Simmons ◽

Emily B. Ansell

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Use ◽

Daily Life ◽

Social Rejection

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Are Changes in Personality Traits and Alcohol Use Associated? A Cohort Study Among Young Swiss Men

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2020.591003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Gerhard Gmel ◽

Simon Marmet ◽

Joseph Studer ◽

Matthias Wicki

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Binge Drinking ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Change Score ◽

Effect Sizes ◽

Direction Of Effects ◽

Latent Change Score ◽

Second Wave

Objective: It is well known that certain personality traits are associated with alcohol use. Because less is known about it, we wished to investigate whether changes in alcohol use were longitudinally associated with changes in personality and in which direction the influence or causation might flow.Methods: Data came from the self-reported questionnaire answers of 5,125 young men at two time points during the Cohort study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF). Their average ages were 20.0 and 25.4 years old at the first and second wave assessments, respectively. Four personality traits were measured: (a) aggression–hostility; (b) sociability; (c) neuroticism–anxiety; and (d) sensation seeking. Alcohol use was measured by volume (drinks per week) and binge drinking (about 60+ grams per occasion). Cross-lagged panel models and two-wave latent change score models were used.Results: Aggression–hostility, sensation seeking, and sociability were significantly and positively cross-sectionally associated with both alcohol use variables. Drinking volume and these three personality traits bidirectionally predicted each other. Binge drinking was bidirectionally associated with sensation-seeking only, whereas aggression–hostility and sociability only predicted binge drinking, but not vice versa. Changes in alcohol use were significantly positively associated with changes in aggression–hostility, sensation seeking, and sociability. Associations reached small Cohen's effect sizes for sociability and sensation seeking, but not for aggression–hostility. Associations with neuroticism–anxiety were mostly not significant.Conclusion: The direction of effects confirmed findings from other studies, and the association between changes in personality and alcohol use support the idea that prevention programs should simultaneously target both.

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Sensation seeking, alcohol use, and sexual behaviors among sexually transmitted infection clinic patients in Cape Town, South Africa.

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors ◽

10.1037/0893-164x.20.3.298 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 298-304 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Seth C. Kalichman ◽

Leickness C. Simbayi ◽

Sean Jooste ◽

Demetria Cain ◽

Charsey Cherry

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

Sexually Transmitted Infection ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Cape Town ◽

Transmitted Infection ◽

Sexually Transmitted ◽

Sexually Transmitted Infection Clinic ◽

Infection Clinic

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Longitudinal Increases in Parent–Child Relationship Quality and Sensation Seeking Interact to Increase Risk-Taking During the College Transition

Emerging Adulthood ◽

10.1177/2167696817705954 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 66-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

João F. Guassi Moreira ◽

Eva H. Telzer

Keyword(s):

Relationship Quality ◽

College Transition ◽

Risk Taking ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Risky Behaviors ◽

Parent Child Relationship ◽

First Semester ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Risk Taking Behaviors ◽

Parent Child

We tested two competing predictions of whether changes in parent–child relationship quality buffer or exacerbate the association between sensation-seeking and risk-taking behaviors as individuals gain more independence during the high school–college transition. In the current longitudinal study, 287 participants completed self-report measures of sensation seeking, risk-taking, and parent–child relationship quality with their parents prior to starting college and again during their first semester. Overall, students displayed increases in risky behaviors, which were predicted by sensation seeking. Changes in relationship quality moderated the association between sensation seeking and risk-taking, such that sensation seeking predicted higher risk-taking behaviors during the first semester of college, but only for those who reported increases in relationship quality across the college transition. These results suggest that increased relationship quality may have an inadvertent spillover effect by interacting with sensation seeking to increase risky behaviors.

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Increases in Risky Drinking During the COVID-19 Pandemic Assessed via Longitudinal Cohort Design: Associations With Racial Tensions, Financial Distress, Psychological Distress and Virus-Related Fears

Alcohol and Alcoholism ◽

10.1093/alcalc/agab019 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

William V Lechner ◽

Natasha K Sidhu ◽

Jackson T Jin ◽

Ahmad A Kittaneh ◽

Kimberly R Laurene ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

High Risk ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Financial Distress ◽

Daily Life ◽

Drinking Patterns ◽

Risky Drinking ◽

Factors Associated ◽

High Risk Drinking ◽

Over Time

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has created disruptions to daily life resulting in wide-spread unemployment and psychological distress. Recent studies have reported high rates of alcohol use during this time; however, longitudinal data remain scarce and factors associated with increases in high-risk drinking observed over time are unknown. Aims The current study examined changes in high-risk drinking patterns across four 7-day observation periods, prior to and following a university wide campus closure. Additionally, factors associated with changes in alcohol use patterns were examined including financial distress, psychological distress, impact of racial tensions and virus-related fears. Method Students (N = 1001) in the Midwestern USA completed repeated assessments between March and June 2020. Each survey included a timeline follow-back measure of alcohol use. Pandemic-related distress spanning several factors was assessed at the final follow-up. Results Risky drinking patterns increased significantly over time. Overall, psychological distress and impact of racial tensions were associated with higher rates of risky drinking, whereas COVID-19-related fears were associated with lower rates. However, only financial-related distress was associated with an increase in risky drinking patterns over time. Conclusions Increased risky drinking patterns observed in the current study may signal problems that are likely to persist even after the direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily life ends. Individuals experiencing financial distress may represent a particularly high-risk group. Interventions targeting the cross-section of job loss, financial stress and problematic alcohol use will be important to identify.

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