Abstract
Alcohol consumption in young people is a public health problem. Due to the harmful consequences and the large population using alcoholic substances, it would be important to determine the biological, psychological, and social factors associated with alcohol use and abuse. The main object of this study is to explore which components of impulsivity, according to the main theoretical models, have predictive power regarding alcohol consumption in young people. A secondary objective is to determine if emotional intelligence has a mediating role between the components of impulsivity and alcohol consumption, and thus specifically contribute to the knowledge about the mediation processes between those variables that are involved in the initiation and maintenance of alcohol consumption. For this purpose, 384 participants were recruited (83.1% females, n = 319), with mean age of 20.46 years (SD = 1.90; range 18–25). All participants were alcohol consumers at the beginning of the study. Data collection was conducted via online survey; impulsivity was evaluated by several questionnaires (Sensation Seeking Scale Form V, Barratt Impulsivity Scales 11, and Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward), and emotional intelligence was evaluated by the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. The results reveal that the dimension of disinhibition (a dimension of the sensation search scale) significantly has the highest predictive value on alcohol consumption. Moreover, our data show that the total effect and direct effect of disinhibition on frequency of alcohol consumption were both significant. The mediating role of emotional intelligence in this process was also significant. These findings show which variables should be considered to prevent alcohol consumption in young people.
Highlights
Alcohol consumption in young people is a public health problem, as recognized by the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) [1]
The results indicate a relationship between impulsivity and alcohol consumption, with different variations depending on the instrument used in the impulsivity evaluation
Our results show significant differences in the impulsivity variable between females and males, as revealed by different questionnaires (SSS-V, Barratt Impulsivity Scales 11 (BIS-11), and SPSRQ), with higher scores observed in males
Summary
Alcohol consumption in young people is a public health problem, as recognized by the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) [1]. Alcohol consumption in young people is a public health problem, as recognized by the World. 26.5% of young people between 15–19 years old consume alcohol, representing 155 million adolescents, with the highest consumption rates currently in Europe, 43.8% [1,2]. The future impact on the health of young people is enormous, in such a way that it would imply the increase of possible diseases, such as certain types of cancer, cardiovascular dysfunction, and liver problems [3] associated with premature deaths [1]. Foods 2020, 9, 71 forces to determine the biological, psychological, and social factors that are associated with alcohol use and abuse. From a psychological point of view, evidence indicates that personality variables are clearly associated with alcohol consumption. Considering the great variety of personality traits, the purpose of the present study is to explore which personality traits, impulsive traits, have a greater predictive power on alcohol consumption in young people
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