Multiple behavioural impulsivity tasks predict prospective alcohol involvement in adolescents

Aims: We investigated reciprocal prospective relationships between multiple behavioural impulsivity tasks (assessing delay discounting, risk-taking, and disinhibition) and alcohol involvement (consumption, drunkenness, and problems) among adolescents. We hypothesised that performance on the tasks would predict subsequent alcohol involvement, and that alcohol involvement would lead to increases in behavioural impulsivity over time. Design: Cross-lagged prospective design in which impulsivity and alcohol involvement were
assessed five times over two years (once every six months, on average). Setting: Classrooms in secondary schools in North West England. Participants: Two hundred and eighty seven adolescents (51% Male) who were aged 12 or 13 at study enrolment. Methods: Participants reported their alcohol involvement and completed computerized tasks of disinhibition, delay discounting, and risk-taking at each assessment. Cross-sectional and prospective relationships
between the variables of interest were investigated using cross-lagged analyses. Results: All behavioural impulsivity tasks predicted a composite index of alcohol involvement six months later (all ps < .01), and these prospective relationships were reliable across the majority of time points. Importantly, we did not observe the converse relationship across time: alcohol involvement did not predict performance on behavioural impulsivity tasks at any subsequent
time point. Conclusions: Several measures of impulsivity predict escalation in alcohol involvement in young adolescents, but alcohol use does not appear to alter impulsivity.