title: Impulsivity as a Multifaceted Construct Related to Excessive Drinking Among UK Students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A substantial number of university students exceed alcohol guidelines. Impulsivity has been repeatedly implicated in heavy alcohol use, yet despite knowledge that impulsivity is multifaceted, there have previously been few studies applying multiple measures of self-report and behavioural impulsivity to examine the relationship with excessive student drinking. This results in a limited understanding of the relationship of various facets of impulsivity to student drinking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants completed a comprehensive battery of impulsivity measures: the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale as a self-report index and the Stop Signal Task, Information Sampling Task and Monetary Choice Questionnaire as behavioural measures of three facets of impulsivity. Participants who exceeded UK drinking guidelines were compared to those who did not on measures of impulsivity. Hierarchical linear regression was then employed to test whether indices of impulsivity were associated with the average units consumed per week.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants who exceeded UK guidelines reported increased impulsivity in facets of self-report impulsivity. They also displayed performance deficits in normal adjustment of Go responses on the Stop Signal Task. In the regression model, nonplanning impulsivity on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale was seen to predict quantity of alcohol consumed per month.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study applies a comprehensive selection of behavioural and self-report measures of impulsivity and indicates that excessive drinkers are more impulsive in some but not all aspects. The results indicate that the wide range of deficits apparent in alcohol-dependent individuals are not evident in this younger, heavy drinking population, but that specific performance and self-identified deficits are already apparent.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Box G-S121-4, Providence, RI 02909, USA amy_caswell@brown.edu.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Caswell
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Box G-S121-4, Providence, RI 02909, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Celio
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK Sussex Addiction Research and Intervention Centre (SARIC), School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK Norwegian Center for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK Sussex Addiction Research and Intervention Centre (SARIC), School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Duka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000067292:Alcohol Drinking in College / Q000523:psychology*; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D057566:Self Report; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult