title: Multidimensional assessment of impulsivity in undergraduate hazardous drinkers and controls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Alcohol misuse in college students represents a significant public health problem. Toward improving the understanding of determinants of collegiate alcohol misuse, the current study examined several dimensions of impulsivity in relation to hazardous drinking in college students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A one-way, two-group, cross-sectional design was used to compare hazardous drinkers (HZD) with social drinkers (SOC). HZD drinkers were required to score 6 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT); SOC drinkers were required to score 1-5 on the AUDIT. The sample comprised 93 participants (56% HZD; 76% male) who were recruited from a medium-sized public university. Participants were assessed under neutral conditions using the Eysenck Impulsivity Questionnaire (EIQ), Delay Discounting Task (DDT), and Stanford Time Perspective Inventory (STPI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consistent with predictions, HZD participants exhibited significantly greater impulsivity on the EIQ-Impulsivity subscale (p < .001), the STPI-Present Hedonism subscale (p < .01), and the STPIFuture subscale (p < .01); however, no differences were evident on the DDT (p > .40). The HZD group also scored marginally higher than the SOC group on the EIQ-Venturesomeness subscale (p < .10).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that greater impulsivity is associated with alcohol misuse in college students, most prominently in the area of propensity toward risk-taking and nonplanning (EIQ-Impulsivity subscale). The correspondence between these findings and previous studies, methodological considerations, and the need for prospective studies on impulsivity and alcohol misuse in college students are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York. james_mackillop@brown.edu
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: MacKillop
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Mattson
authors.forename: Emily J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Anderson Mackillop
authors.forename: Bryan A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Castelda
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Donovick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities