title: Implicit alcohol-relaxation associations in frequently drinking adolescents with high levels of neuroticism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Most individuals start drinking during adolescence, a period in which automatically activated or implicit cognitive processes play an important role in drinking behavior. The aim of this study was to examine personality-related antecedents of implicit associations between alcohol and positive or negative reinforcement motives in adolescents. It was hypothesized that frequent alcohol consumption in combination with specific personality traits (neuroticism for negative reinforcement and extraversion for positive reinforcement) could predict specific implicit alcohol-relaxation and arousal associations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants completed a brief Big Five Questionnaire and alcohol use questions at T1. Approximately eight months later (T2), two Brief Implicit Association Tests were completed to assess alcohol-relaxation (negative reinforcement, n=222) and alcohol-arousal (positive reinforcement, n=248) associations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that frequently drinking adolescents who scored high on neuroticism had the strongest alcohol-relaxation associations eight months later. No significant predictors were observed for alcohol-arousal associations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study identified precursors of strong implicit alcohol-relaxation associations (i.e., high levels of neuroticism in combination with frequent alcohol consumption) which can inform future prevention and intervention studies.
authors.affiliation: Addiction, Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) Lab, Research Priority Areas Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, and Yield, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: E.Salemink@uva.nl.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salemink
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P A C
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: van Lier
authors.affiliation: Research Centre of Adolescent Development, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meeus
authors.affiliation: Addiction, Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) Lab, Research Priority Areas Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, and Yield, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Raaijmakers
authors.affiliation: Addiction, Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) Lab, Research Priority Areas Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, and Yield, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Wiers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal; D001244:Association; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D000075384:Neuroticism; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012063:Relaxation / Q000523:psychology*; D000066608:Underage Drinking / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Adolescents; Alcohol use; Extraversion; Implicit alcohol associations; Neuroticism