title: Brief report: The interaction of impulsivity with risk-taking is associated with early alcohol use initiation.
abstract: Early alcohol use initiation is a well-established risk factor for the subsequent development of alcohol abuse and dependence. Separate lines of research indicate that impulsivity and risk-taking each are associated with early alcohol use. In this research, the association of the interaction of risk-taking and impulsivity with early alcohol initiation was examined. Results suggest the interaction between impulsivity and risk-taking was related to early alcohol initiation. Among children with lower levels of risk-taking, level of impulsivity was associated with beginning to drink. By contrast, among children with higher levels of risk-taking, level of impulsivity was not associated with the likelihood of initiating alcohol use. These findings suggest that early adolescence is a critical developmental period in which implementing an intervention to reduce impulsivity and risk-taking may be particularly effective to prevent the early initiation of alcohol use.
authors.affiliation: Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. Electronic address: khamilt4@umd.edu.
authors.forename: Kristen R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Julia W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Felton
authors.affiliation: Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Cristina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Risco
authors.affiliation: Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lejuez
authors.affiliation: Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: MacPherson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012309:Risk-Taking
keywords: Adolescents; Alcohol use initiation; Impulsivity; Risk-taking