Relations Between Child Temperament and Adolescent Negative Urgency in a High-Risk Sample

Profiles and the impact of affective temperaments on alcohol use disorder: a cross-sectional study

AIMS

This study aimed to explore the profiles and impact of affective temperaments, together with social and clinical backgrounds, including affective symptoms, in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD).

METHODS

This study included 314 low-risk drinkers and 257 patients with AUD. To assess affective temperament, we used the short version of the temperament evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego. To evaluate depressive and mixed symptoms, the quick inventory of depressive symptomatology self-report Japanese version and 12-item questionnaire for the quantitative assessment of the depressive mixed state were used. We compared the profiles of affective temperaments as well as social and clinical backgrounds, including affective symptoms, between the two groups and further performed logistic regression analyses to explore the factors contributing to AUD.

RESULTS

Our analysis showed higher cyclothymic, hyperthymic, and irritable temperament scores and lower depressive temperament scores in patients with AUD than that in nonclinical drinkers. Regarding other social and clinical backgrounds, patients with AUD were less educated and employed and more experienced depressive and mixed symptoms. Logistic regression analysis identified hyperthymic temperament as a positive contributor and depressive temperament as a negative contributor to AUD.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicated potential bipolarity in patients with AUD, as manifested by a more hyperthymic temperament in contrast to less depressive temperament. Despite their self-perceived adaptive temperament profiles, patients showed poorer social outcomes and more affective symptoms. This gap may be partly explained by a lack of insight unique to AUD psychology, which potentially disturbs problem recognition.

Understanding alcohol use and alcohol use disorders from a developmental psychopathology perspective: Research advances, challenges, and future directions

As part of the special issue of Development and Psychopathology honoring the remarkable contributions of Dr Dante Cicchetti, the current paper attempts to describe the recent contributions that a developmental psychopathology perspective has made in understanding the development of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems over the lifespan. The paper also identifies some of the future challenges and research directions. Because the scope of this task far exceeds the confines of a journal length article this paper does not attempt a comprehensive review. Rather, it builds on an earlier review and commentary that was published in Development and Psychopathology in 2013, with a similar goal.)Building on that work and updating its conclusions and suggestions for future directions, the current paper emphasizes findings from the research areas that were identified for further study in 2013 and the findings that have been published since that time.

Longitudinal Relations Among Parental Substance Use Disorder and Adolescent Drinking Behavior: The Role of Temperament, Negative Urgency, and Maternal Parenting

Research suggests that parental substance use disorder is associated with adolescent drinking indirectly through negative urgency, a form of impulsivity that is particularly associated with high-risk drinking. Moreover, childhood mechanisms of risk may play a role in this developmental chain such that childhood temperament and parenting may be mechanisms through which parental substance use disorder is associated with adolescent negative urgency and drinking behavior. Therefore, the current study tested whether parental substance use disorder was indirectly associated with adolescent drinking frequency through childhood temperament (i.e., "dysregulated irritability") and adolescent negative urgency, and whether relations differed by levels of maternal support and consistency of discipline. Data come from a multigenerational, longitudinal study of familial substance use disorder (N = 276, Mage in childhood = 6.28 (SD = 1.16), Mage in adolescence = 15.86 (SD = 1.56), 45.3% female). Findings indicated that parental substance use disorder indirectly predicted adolescent drinking through both childhood dysregulated irritability and adolescent negative urgency (mediated pathways). This indirect relation was stronger at higher vs. lower levels of maternal support but did not vary by maternal consistency of discipline. Parental substance use disorder also indirectly predicted adolescent drinking separately through childhood dysregulated irritability and negative urgency. Findings thus suggest that childhood dysregulated irritability may be an early marker of risk toward high-risk personality traits and behavior in adolescence that are associated with having a parental history of substance use disorder. Findings also suggest that increased maternal support may only be helpful in buffering risk for those with low levels of dysregulated irritability. Prevention efforts focused on childhood emotion regulation and emotion-based action may be useful in preventing adolescent risk behavior.

Maladaptive Emotion Socialization as a Risk Factor for the Development of Negative Urgency and Subsequent Problem Drinking

AIMS

Negative urgency, which refers to the tendency to act rashly when experiencing intense negative emotions, consistently serves as a robust predictor of problem drinking and other maladaptive behaviors. However, very little is known about the factors that influence the development of negative urgency itself. Although urgency theory suggests that environment and temperament interact to increase risk for the development of urgency, few studies, to date, have examined environmental risk for urgency.

METHOD

In a cross-sectional sample of 518 adults recruited from Amazon Mturk, the current study began the investigation of the role of childhood maladaptive emotion socialization (MES) in risk for negative urgency and the possibility that negative urgency mediates the relationship between MES and problem drinking via self-report measures completed online. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

Individual differences in childhood MES, reported retrospectively, did predict increased present-day negative urgency. In addition, results were consistent with the possibility that negative urgency mediates the relationship between MES and problem drinking when considered concurrently with trait negative affect.

CONCLUSIONS

Successful identification of early environmental predictors of negative urgency may provide useful targets for intervention efforts aimed at reducing or preventing the development of negative urgency and, subsequently, problem drinking. Further longitudinal investigations are needed to better examine these processes as they develop.

Maturing out of alcohol and cannabis co-use: A test of patterns and personality predictors

OBJECTIVE

Reductions in substance involvement into adulthood are thought to represent a normative maturing out of substance use. However, patterns and predictors of maturing out of alcohol and cannabis co-use remain largely unstudied. Therefore, the current study tested developmental trajectories of alcohol and cannabis use from late adolescence into adulthood and whether late adolescent personality traits predicted trajectory class membership.

METHODS

Data come from a longitudinal study of family history of alcohol disorder (N = 458). Age bands were created to model trajectories of drinking quantity, negative alcohol consequences, and cannabis use frequency from late adolescence (age 18-22) to young adulthood (age 23-28) and adulthood (age 29-36). Participants reported on their sensation seeking, conscientiousness, and neuroticism during late adolescence and their typical drinking quantity, negative alcohol consequences, and cannabis use frequency at each age band.

RESULTS

Three trajectory classes were derived from an initial Parallel Process Growth Mixture Model: (1) low-risk maturing out of alcohol-only use, (2) high-risk maturing out of co-use, and (3) high-risk switchers who increased their cannabis use into adulthood. Late adolescent sensation seeking was associated with higher odds of being in both co-use trajectories, whereas a lack of conscientiousness was associated with higher odds of being a co-use switcher.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified heterogeneity in trajectories of co-use, which suggests that a lack of maturing out of alcohol involvement may be accompanied by increased cannabis use. Moreover, late adolescent personality traits may predispose individuals toward riskier developmental trajectories of substance use into adulthood.

Multidimensional Impulsive Personality Traits Mediate the Effect of Parent Substance Use Disorder on Adolescent Alcohol and Cannabis Use

Theory suggests that behavioral undercontrol mediates the effect of parental substance disorder on offspring substance use, but no studies have tested multidimensional impulsive personality traits as mechanisms of risk. Adolescents (N = 392; 48% female) from a multigenerational study of familial alcohol disorder self-reported impulsive personality traits via the UPPS-P (M_age = 16.09; Range = 13-19) and alcohol/cannabis frequency one year later. The UPPS-P assesses negative and positive urgency (i.e., rash action in a negative or positive mood state), lack of premeditation (i.e., lack of planning/forethought), lack of perseverance (i.e., inability to finish tedious/boring tasks), and sensation seeking (i.e., thrill seeking/risk taking). Parent substance disorder was assessed via diagnostic interviews. Two-part hurdle models tested predictors of any substance use (i.e., binary part) and frequency of use (i.e., continuous part). Parent substance disorder was indirectly associated with any alcohol/cannabis use (binary part) and higher cannabis frequency (continuous part) through negative urgency. Parental substance disorder was associated with higher alcohol frequency through a lack of premeditation. Sensation seeking was associated with any alcohol/cannabis use but unrelated to parental substance disorder. Despite indirect effects, strong effects of parental substance disorder on substance use remained. The findings are discussed in terms of theory and public health implications.