Impulsivity moderates the impact of typical drinking contexts on alcohol use.

Background: Disinhibited personality traits, such as impulsivity (IMP), excitement seeking (ES), and low harm avoidance (HA), are thought to reflect a vulnerability towards alcohol-related problems. Furthermore, recent research suggests that highly impulsive individuals might be susceptible to the reward associated with heavy drinking contexts (e.g., parties, bars) compared to light drinking contexts (e.g., home, alone). However, prior studies have not tested this assumption with an intensive longitudinal approach (i.e., daily dairy), which allow us to obtain a more accurate depiction of people’s alcohol use across different contexts. The current study objective was to examine the extent to which disinhibited personality traits (IMP, ES, and HA) moderate the impact of a heavy drinking context (vs light drinking context) on drinking quantity. Method: At the initial laboratory visit, participants (N = 103, 62.1% female) completed measures of IMP, ES, and HA. For two weeks, participants responded to daily notifications about their drinking quantity and the context of the event from the day prior via a mobile daily diary. A heavy drinking context was coded if a participant endorsed being at a party, tailgate, bar, or pregaming. In contrast, a light drinking context was coded if the participant endorsed drinking alone or at home and not being in a heavy drinking context. Results: Multilevel analysis indicated that only IMP moderated the relationship between a heavy drinking context and drinking quantity. Specifically, among participants high in IMP, their drinking increased when they were at a heavy drinking context, relative to a light drinking context. In contrast, the relationship was not significant for those with low IMP. Conclusions: Individuals high in impulsivity (relative to low IMP) increased their drinking in high-risk contexts. Thus, higher levels of IMP appear to reflect poorer self-regulation, particularly in contexts with greater excitement and fun opportunities (i.e., heavy drinking contexts). These findings underscore the significance of investigating an individual's drinking context as a potential intervention focus, especially for individuals with high levels of impulsivity.