UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale Research Articles

Maladaptive Emotional Schemas and Emotional Functioning: Evaluation of an Integrated Model Across Two Independent Samples

Recent advancements in emotion theory propose that emotional schemas—individualized conceptualizations and beliefs about emotions—serve a fundamental function in guiding emotional processes. To critically assess the validity of this suggestion, the current research proposed and evaluated an integrative model of emotional functioning. Two studies were completed using a combination of behavioral (Mirror Tracing Persistence Task), performance-based (Perception of Affect Task), and self-report (Leahy Emotional Schema Scale-II, Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale, Generalized Expectancy for Negative Mood Regulation Scale, UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale) measures of maladaptive emotional schemas and emotional functioning. Results supported the model and suggested complex interrelations between maladaptive emotional schemas, emotion-processing deficits, avoidant coping, emotion-regulation ineffectiveness, and behavioral dysregulation, with emotional schemas playing a key role in guiding emotional experience and functioning. Given the centrality of beliefs about emotion and emotional functioning in empirically supported therapies, the proposed model may inform future research on mechanisms of change in these treatments.

Impulsivity and Mindfulness among Inpatients with Alcohol Use Disorder

Background: Impulsivity is both a risk factor for and a consequence of alcohol use disorder (AUD), for which mindfulness-based approaches have been proven to be effective. However, the specific relationship between mindfulness and impulsivity has been little explored in the literature, especially in people with AUD. This study aims to investigate the relationship between different facets of dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity among people with AUD in an inpatient setting in Brazil. Methods: Participants (n = 165) completed the following self-report measures: the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-SF), and the Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (SUPPS-P). Multiple imputation techniques and linear models were employed to assess the relationships between dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity. Results: In complete case analysis, the UPPS-P facet “lack of premeditation” was inversely related to the FFMQ facet “non-reactivity” (B = −0.17; p = 0.01); and “positive urgency” was inversely related to “act with awareness” (B = −0.27, p = 0.02) and “non-reactivity” (B = −0.17, p = 0.01). Conclusion: Relationships of varying magnitudes between dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity domains among people with AUD were found, suggesting that higher mindfulness skills are related to less impulsive traits. Our results encourage further longitudinal studies evaluating the potential of specific mindfulness components to decrease impulsivity among AUD inpatients, including its underlying mechanisms.

Measuring perfectionism, impulsivity, self-esteem and social anxiety: Cross-national study in emerging adults from eight countries

This study assessed the measurement invariance of selected self-report measures of perfectionism, impulsivity, self-esteem and social anxiety in samples of emerging adults from eight different countries. Participants (N = 6272) completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, the 5-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (5-item RSES) and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS-6). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was run to examine cross-measure equivalence. Evidence for structural invariance was found for all questionnaires, while weak invariance was supported only for the 5-item RSES and the SIAS-6, and a partial weak invariance was found for the MPS and the UPPS-P. No measure achieved strong invariance. Strict invariance was achieved for the 5-item RSES, whereas only a partial strict invariance was supported for the MPS, UPPS-P and SIAS-6. These results suggest that perfectionism, impulsivity, self-esteem, and social anxiety are subjected to linguistic/cultural influence as well as to the effects of socio-demographic variables and can be evaluated by using the selected measures in eight different countries worldwide - but results should be interpreted with caution.

Reliability and validity of a short Japanese version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale

ObjectiveThis study aimed to verify the reliability and validity of a Japanese version of the S-UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale. This is expected to facilitate comparisons of findings between international and Japanese samples in studies of impulsivity. MethodsTwo surveys were conducted. In the first survey, 632 participants, aged 20–44 years old, completed a translated version of the Japanese S-UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, the Motor Impulsiveness Scale, a short form of the Big-Five scale, the short Grit scale, and the brief version of the self-control scale. Two weeks later, the second survey containing the S-UPPS-P and the motor impulsiveness scale were completed by 450 participants who had completed the first survey to examine test-retest reliability. ResultsIn the first survey, an exploratory factor analysis was performed on the S-UPPS-P responses. A four-factor solution was the most suitable solution, with the factors of “Lack of Perseverance,” “Lack of Premeditation,” “Sensation Seeking,” and “Negative-Positive Urgency.” Then, a confirmatory factor analysis was performed. The conformity index of the original five-factor model was slightly better than that of the four-factor model. We also compared the five-factor model’s conformity index with three other models that had been examined in the original and other foreign language versions of the S-UPPS-P. The five-interrelated factor model had the best model fit. The reliability of the five scales was confirmed. The scales exhibited internal consistency with α coefficients ranging from 0.65 to 0.79, in addition to the test-retest reliability ranging from 0.74 to 0.80. The convergent validity of each S-UPPS-P scale was supported by high relationships with the four personality scales, with the highest correlation coefficients ranging from 0.37 to −0.67. ConclusionThe reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the S-UPPS-P were confirmed, despite the minor limitations of the exploratory factor analysis providing a four-factor solution instead of a five-factor solution, and the α reliability coefficients of two scales being acceptable but rather low. Thus, comparisons of findings between international and Japanese studies on impulsivity could be facilitated.

Impulsivity as a mediating factor in the association between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and substance use.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with heightened impulsivity and risk-taking behaviors, including higher rates of substance use than individuals without PTSD. Although a number of studies suggest that impulsivity is associated with substance use in PTSD, the specific role of impulsivity in this common pattern of comorbidity remains unclear. The current study investigated associations between PTSD symptoms, substance use patterns, and impulsivity in a sample of adults. A total of 2,967 participants were recruited online through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants who did not report at least one Criterion A traumatic event on the Brief Trauma Questionnaire were excluded. The remaining 1,609 trauma-exposed individuals were placed into either the probable PTSD group (n = 406) or the trauma-exposed non-PTSD group (n = 1,203) based on their PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (PCL-5) score. Impulsivity was assessed via a delay discounting measure and the brief UPPS-P (urgency, premeditation, perseverance, sensation seeking, and positive urgency) Impulsive Behavior Scale. Alcohol and cannabis were assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test (CUDIT-R) scales, respectively. Probable PTSD participants exhibited steeper (more impulsive) delay discounting and endorsed more impulsive traits than participants in the trauma-exposed non-PTSD group. Moreover, the PTSD group reported significantly higher scores on both the AUDIT and CUDIT-R. Lastly, impulsive personality traits on the UPPS-P partially mediated the association between PTSD and both cannabis and alcohol use. These findings suggest that trauma-exposed individuals who exhibit elevated PTSD symptoms show heightened impulsivity. It also appears that lower levels of impulsivity may serve as a protective factor among trauma-exposed individuals resilient to the development of PTSD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Systematically lower structural brain connectivity in individuals with elevated food addiction symptoms

Symptoms of food addiction have been observed in both obesity and eating disorders. The food addiction model may therefore posit a continuum of dysfunctional personality traits, including increased impulsivity and poor decision-making. The current study explored the neuroanatomy of addictive-like eating behavior from a novel triadic model of addiction. Specifically, we focused on three interacting neural systems; a sensitized impulsive, reward system associated with striatal structures, a desensitized reflective control system governed by prefrontal cortex, and a disrupted insula-mediated interoceptive system responsible for integrating and translating interoceptive, somatic signals into feelings of anticipation, desires, or cravings. Sixty-four healthy-weight Chinese university students were scanned for high-resolution structural and diffusion imaging. Data from the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), Binge Eating Scale, Eating Attitude Test-26, UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, and Delay Discounting Task were collected. Based on YFAS-score, participants were divided into a High Food Addiction group (HFA) and a Low Food Addiction group (LFA). Diffusion tensor imaging results revealed that compared to LFA, HFA had lower structural connectivity between insula and anterior cingulate cortex, insula and caudate, and ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC) and putamen. The Voxel-Based Morphometry analysis suggested marginally lower gray matter volume in the left vmPFC in HFA. Finally, behavioral results, indicated that higher food addiction symptoms were associated with personality traits exhibited in eating disorders including impulsive decision-making. These findings suggest that even in a healthy population, some individuals may be more susceptible to develop unhealthy relationships to food, which at least partially is manifested in lower structural connectivity between brain regions associated with interoceptive awareness, decision-making, and reward.

Influence of childhood trauma and post-traumatic stress symptoms on impulsivity: focusing on differences according to the dimensions of impulsivity

ABSTRACT Background Impulsivity, a trait and multidimensional construct, is associated with a wide range of impulsive behaviours. Although it is well documented that childhood trauma (CT) affects impulsivity, few studies examine whether its effects depend on particular dimensions of impulsivity and the role post-traumatic stress symptoms play in the relationship between childhood trauma and different dimensions of impulsivity. Objective This research aims to explore the relationships between CT, PTSD, and impulsivity in a heterogeneous clinical sample. We also sought to examine whether the influence of CT on impulsivity differs across the dimensions of impulsivity. Method We investigated the relationships between CT, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and five dimensions of impulsivity using a sample of 162 non-psychotic psychiatric patients without neurocognitive diagnoses. Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES), and the UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviour Scale (UPPS-P). Results The results of structural equation modelling showed that CT is associated with PTSD symptoms, in addition to four of the five dimensions of impulsivity in the UPPS-P:positive urgency, negative urgency, lack of premeditation, and lack of perseverance. The indirect effect of CT through PTSD symptoms was significant only for the two types of urgency. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that interventions that aim to alleviate impulsive behaviour derived from high urgency should pay particular attention to the presence of CT and PTSD symptoms.

0728 Impulsivity Is Related To Osa Severity But Not With Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

Abstract Introduction Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with cognitive deficits in vigilance, attention, and executive functions (EFs). To date, the mechanisms that characterize the impairment cognition in OSA remain partially uncertain. The dominant theories have mostly concentrated on hypoxia/hypercarbia, and sleep disruption and consequent excessive daytime sleepiness. Moreover, hypoxemia affects global cognitive functioning, but it is not clear whether and how the severity of the disease influences the EFs. Methods The current study aimed at assessing the relationships among OSA severity, daytime sleepiness, and EFs and self-reported impulsivity in a sample of OSA subjects who were classified according to Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) in mild/moderate OSA (AHI<30) or severe OSA (AHI≥30). All OSA participants were consecutively admitted to the Sleep Disorders Center of the San Raffaele Turro Hospital. After OSA assessment, patients were administered the Italian translation of the Psychology Experiment Building Language EFs tasks and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS-P). Participants’ sleepiness was considered severe if a score of 10 or higher on the ESS was observed. Results Confirming and extending previous reports, daytime sleepiness affected both attention performance (U=239.00, p<.05; Vargha & Delaney A=0.66), and inhibition performance (U=199.00, p<.05; A=0.70). No effect of AHI was observed on both variables (U=326.00, p>.05; A=0.55; U=330.00, p>.05; A=0.53, respectively). Conversely, self-reported impulsivity was associated with OSA severity (U=30.50, p<.001; A=0.86), but not with daytime sleepiness (U=84, p>.05; A=0.63). Conclusion Our findings showed the importance of considering both OSA severity and sleepiness in order to better understand EFs and impulsivity related to OSA. Support none

Associations between performance-based and self-reported prospective memory, impulsivity and encoding support

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to execute future intended actions and may be negatively affected by impulsivity. The current study aimed to address questions on (1) relationships of PM with facets of impulsivity; (2) psychometric properties of a PM task, in particular convergent validity with self-reported PM; and (3) whether external support of the encoding process would improve PM or affect relationships with impulsivity. 245 participants performed the experiment online. Participants completed either a baseline version of the task, which combined blocks of an ongoing working memory task with PM trials involving a varying stimulus requiring an alternative response; or a version that provided external support of encoding by requesting that participants visualize and execute the intended prospective action before each block. The Prospective-Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) and Short Version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (SUPPS) were used to assess self-reported prospective memory and facets of impulsivity. Reliability of PM performance was good and remained acceptable even with the exclusion of participants with low scores. PM performance was associated with self-reported PM, explaining variance in addition to that explained by working memory performance. PM performance was also negatively associated with impulsivity, in particular sensation seeking and positive urgency, but only in the baseline task. Support did not cause overall improvements in performance. In conclusion, results provided further evidence for a relationship between facets of impulsivity and PM. PM as assessed via the current task has good psychometric properties.

Factor structure, measurement and structural invariance, and external validity of an abbreviated youth version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale.

The current study examines the measurement properties and validity of a novel, abbreviated youth version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale that was developed to maintain measurement consistency with the existing adult short form. Specifically, we examined this scale's (a) factor structure; (b) measurement and structural invariance across four demographic characteristics: gender, ethnicity, household income, and parental education; and (c) correlates using a subset of 4,521 preadolescent (9- and 10-year old) children (53% male) from the baseline wave of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a large, community-based sample. Our findings supported a correlated 5-factor model, as well as a hierarchical model that recaptured the covariation among these 5 lower-order factors in three higher-order factors. Both of these models are consistent with the commonly observed structure of the UPPS-P among adults. We established measurement invariance across all demographic characteristics. Finally, our UPPS-P scales evidenced good convergent and discriminant validity with a broad swath of theoretically relevant external criteria, including self- and parent-reported personality and psychopathology, as well as lab-based neurocognitive tasks. Our findings indicate that we can assess multidimensional impulsivity in children reliably and validly by means of self-report, allowing assessment of this critical domain at early stages of development. We hope that this measure will facilitate the study of impulsivity in large-scale samples to begin to understand the evolution and long-term consequences of impulsivity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychometric Properties of the Chinese version of UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale.

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale. The associations between the UPPS-P scale and impulsivity choice, gender, smoking, and drinking status were also assessed.MethodsA total of 127 adults ranging from 21 to 65 years old participated in the study. Participants were administered with the Chinese version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), and State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Impulsivity choice tasks were also tested including the Delay Discounting Task (DDT), Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), and Beads Task (Beads).ResultsA new version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale was formed that includes 40 items. The scores of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale demonstrated adequate internal consistency on five subscales but less sufficient structure validity in the present sample. In addition, positive urgency was negatively related to the Beads task; negative urgency and positive urgency were positively related to the DDT and BART. Moreover, positive and negative urgency were positively correlated with depression; all five subscales were positively correlated with anxiety; sensation seeking was higher in males than females and in alcohol drinkers than non-drinkers; and lack of premeditation and lack of perseverance were higher in nonsmokers than smokers.ConclusionsThe present study supports the reliability but not the structure validity of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale. The impulsivity personality trait assessed by the UPPS-P scale was associated with impulsivity choice, depression, anxiety, gender, and drinking and smoking status. Further studies should be conducted to explore the structure of impulsivity in the Chinese population.

Investigating the relationship between reward sensitivity, impulsivity, and food addiction: A systematic review.

The aim of the current research was to identify the extent to which reward sensitivity and impulsivity were related to food addiction. Forty-five studies, published from 2009 to June 2019, investigating reward sensitivity and/or impulsivity with food addiction as measured by the Yale Food Addiction Scale were reviewed. Reward sensitivity, as measured by the Sensitivity to Reward (SR) scale, was positively associated with food addiction in two studies, but failed to yield consistent results in other studies when measured with the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation Scales. Self-report impulsivity, as measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), was consistently associated with food addiction, with attentional impulsivity and motor impulsivity the most consistent subscales. Similarly, food addiction was also consistently associated with Negative Urgency, Positive Urgency, and Lack of Perseverance as measured by the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale. Food addiction was inconsistently associated with disinhibition, as measured by behavioral tasks, indicating food addiction appears more aligned with self-report measures of impulsivity. Research in this field is dominated by university student, overweight and obese samples. Additional research is required to further tease out these relationships.

Examining associations between emotion-based rash action and dysregulated eating symptoms in men and women

Negative urgency (NU: tendency to act rashly when distressed) is the facet of impulsive personality that has been most predictive of binge eating, but less is known about the relative role of positive urgency (PU: tendency to act rashly in response to positive emotions). In addition, most studies have exclusively focused on women and the examination of pathological eating outcomes, using a dimensional symptom approach, has been somewhat limited. This study aimed to replicate and extend upon prior work. We examined the extent to which NU and/or PU are uniquely associated with dysregulated eating, using a latent factor comprised of dimensional symptoms, and directly tested whether effects differ by sex. Two independent cross-sectional samples of women and men were used (Sample 1: Midwestern university, 437 females, 348 males; Sample 2: Southwestern university, 301 females, 236 males). NU and PU were assessed with the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, and dysregulated eating symptoms (i.e., binge eating, loss of control eating, eating concerns) were assessed with well-validated self-report questionnaires. Although both NU and PU showed significant positive associations with dysregulated eating, NU showed the strongest unique relationship with dysregulated eating in both samples. The relative role of PU was weakened in Sample 1 and completely attenuated in Sample 2 once its shared variance with NU was accounted for. All results were similar in men and women. Overall, findings continue to suggest that NU is the form of impulsivity that is most relevant to dysregulated eating in both men and women.

Static and dynamic aspects of cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity are associated with self-reported measures of impulsivity: A resting-state fMRI study.

Human and animal brain studies bring converging evidence of a possible role for the cerebellum and the cerebro-cerebellar system in impulsivity. However, the precise nature of the relation between cerebro-cerebellar coupling and impulsivity is far from understood. Characterizing functional connectivity (FC) patterns between large-scale brain networks that mediate different forms of impulsivity, and the cerebellum may improve our understanding of this relation. Here, we analyzed static and dynamic features of cerebro-cerebellar FC using a highly sampled resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) dataset and tested their association with two widely used self-reports of impulsivity: the UPPS-P impulsive behavior scale and the behavioral inhibition/approach systems (BIS/BAS) in a large group of healthy subjects (N = 134, ≈ 1 hr of rs-fMRI/subject). We employed robust data-driven techniques to identify cerebral and cerebellar resting-state networks and extract descriptive summary measures of static and dynamic cerebro-cerebellar FC. We observed evidence linking BIS, BAS, sensation seeking, and lack of premeditation to the total strength and temporal variability of FC within networks connecting regions of the prefrontal cortex, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus with the cerebellum. Overall, our findings improve the existing knowledge of the neural correlates of impulsivity and the behavioral correlates of the cerebro-cerebellar system.

Supplemental Material for Factor Structure, Measurement and Structural Invariance, and External Validity of an Abbreviated Youth Version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale

Supplemental Material for Factor Structure, Measurement and Structural Invariance, and External Validity of an Abbreviated Youth Version of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale

Cortical Thickness Links Impulsive Personality Traits and Risky Behavior.

Impulsive personality traits are often predictive of risky behavior, but not much is known about the neurobiological basis of this relationship. We investigated whether thickness of the cortical mantle varied as a function of impulsive traits and whether such variation also explained recent risky behavior. A community sample of 107 adults (ages 18–55; 54.2% men) completed self-report measures of impulsive traits and risky behavior followed by a neuroimaging protocol. Using the three-factor model of impulsive traits derived from the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, analysis of the entire cortical mantle identified three thickness clusters that related to impulsive traits. Sensation seeking was negatively related to thickness in the right pericalcarine cortex, whereas impulsive urgency was positively associated with thickness in the left superior parietal and right paracentral lobule. Notably, follow-up analyses showed that thickness in the right pericalcarine cortex also related to recent risky behavior, with the identified cluster mediating the association between sensation seeking and risky behavior. Findings suggest that reduced thickness in the pericalcarine region partially explains the link between sensation seeking and the tendency to engage in risky behavior, providing new insight into the neurobiological basis of these relationships.

Examining emotion-, personality-, and reward-related dispositional tendencies in relation to eating pathology and weight change over seven years in the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS) study

This study examined dispositional emotion-, personality/temperament-, and reward-related variables in relation to post-surgery eating pathology and weight-change among 107 adults who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). As part of a prospective cohort study, annual post-surgical assessments were conducted to evaluate eating pathology, using the Eating Disorder Examination-Bariatric Surgery Version, and percent weight change from pre-surgery. Dispositional measures were administered at the 6- or 7-year assessment and included the Affect Intensity Measure, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, Adult Temperament Questionnaire-Effortful Control Scale, and Sensitivity to Punishment/Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire. Results from a series of linear mixed models revealed significant associations of emotion dysregulation, affect intensity, positive and negative urgency, effortful control, and reward sensitivity with eating pathology severity across 7 years; additionally, all but two of the subscales comprising the total scores were also significantly associated. Fewer statistically significant results were found in relation to weight change; emotion dysregulation and affect intensity (along with several subscales) were significantly associated with lower percent weight change (i.e., less weight loss), but of the reward-related and personality/temperament variables, only total effortful control emerged as significant. However, the associations of the other variables with both outcomes were consistently in the expected direction. Associations also appeared consistent across surgical procedures. Taken together, findings suggest that certain dispositional tendencies may relate to less optimal long-term outcomes following bariatric surgery and thus may be useful to assess in pre-surgical or early post-surgical evaluations to inform targeted recommendations.

Examining the stability of the UPPS-P and MCQ-27 during residential treatment for substance use disorder.

Impulsivity reflects a pattern of rapid behavioral responses to internal or external cues with little planning or consideration of consequences. Impulsive personality is purported to be a largely stable, trait-based quality, while impulsive choice has been shown to respond to interventions aimed at reducing impulsivity. We sought to evaluate the stability of impulsive personality and examine reductions in impulsivity during short-term residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. The temporal stability of the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS-P) and discounting rates on a measure of impulsive choice (i.e., Monetary Choice Questionnaire-27 [MCQ-27]) were assessed over a brief 10-day period in a sample of individuals engaged in 14-day residential SUD treatment (N = 28). Although all five UPPS-P scales exhibited adequate to good test-retest reliability (rs > .78), Negative Urgency and (lack of) Premeditation decreased over time with large and moderate effects, respectively. Discounting rates on the MCQ-27 also declined (i.e., reduced impulsivity) during treatment. While impulsive personality is broadly understood to be trait-like and largely resistant to treatment effects, our results add to emerging evidence that two scales on the UPPS-P (i.e., Negative Urgency and [lack of] Premeditation) measure aspects of impulsive personality that respond to treatment. These findings have significant implications for understanding and conceptualizing impulsivity during initial SUD treatment and suggest opportunities for additional interventions targeting aspects of impulsive personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Influence of dopamine-related genes on craving, impulsivity, and aggressiveness in Korean males with alcohol use disorder.

Dopamine is a major neuromodulator that is acutely involved in various cognitive processes, reward-motivated behaviors, and impulsivity. Abnormality in dopaminergic neurotransmission is implicated in the pathophysiology of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The present study examined the genetic influence of dopamine system on problematic drinking, impulsivity, and aggressiveness in a Korean male population with AUD. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs4532 in DRD1, rs2283265 in DRD2, rs6280 in DRD3, rs1800497 in ANKK1, and rs4680 in COMT) and a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) in DAT1 in 295 male patients with AUD were genotyped. For AUD-related clinical characteristics, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS) were used to assess the severity of hazardous drinking and craving symptoms, respectively. Participants also completed the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS-P) and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). Analyses were performed using R package SNPassoc; statistical significance was set as p < 0.0083 after Bonferroni correction. A significant association was detected between DRD3 SNP rs6280 and OCDS scores. In regard to impulsivity and aggressiveness, rs4532 of DRD1 was significantly associated with UPPS-P score. Also, rs4532 demonstrated a nominally significant association with BPAQ score, although it did not reach statistical significance after correction for multiple comparisons. Results of this study support the idea that genetic variations in the dopamine system may contribute to alcohol cravings and impulsivity in patients with AUD.

Association between impulsivity and neural activation to alcohol cues in heavy drinkers

This study examines associations between two measures of impulsivity and brain response to alcohol taste cues. Impulsivity is both a risk factor for and a consequence of alcohol use and misuse. Frontostriatal circuits are linked to both impulsivity and addiction-related behaviors, including response to alcohol cues. Non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers (n = 55) completed (i) an fMRI alcohol taste cue-reactivity paradigm; (ii) the monetary choice questionnaire (MCQ), a measure of choice impulsivity where participants choose between smaller, sooner rewards and larger, delayed rewards; (iii) and the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, a self-report measure assessing five impulsivity factors. General linear models identified associations between neural alcohol taste cue-reactivity and impulsivity, adjusting for age, gender, and smoking status. Self-reported sensation seeking was positively associated with alcohol taste cue-elicited activation in frontostriatal regions, such that individuals who reported higher sensation seeking displayed greater neural response to alcohol taste cues. Conversely, delay discounting was negatively associated with activation in frontoparietal regions, such that individuals who reported greater discounting showed less cue-elicited activation. There were no significant associations between other self-reported impulsivity subscales and alcohol taste cue-reactivity. These results indicate that sensation seeking is associated with reward responsivity, while delay discounting is associated with recruitment of self-control circuitry.