EFFECTS OF NEGATIVE LIFE EVENTS AND SELF-REPORTED IMPULSIVITY ON ALCOHOL USE IN COLLEGE FRESHMEN J. Sisante 1, B.Narayanan 1, S. Armeli 3, R. Rosen 1, R. Jiantonio 1, S. Meda 1, M. Ginley 1, H. Tennen 4, C. Austad 5, C. R. Fallahi 5, R. Wood 5, S. Raskin 6, & G. Pearlson 1,2 1 Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT; 2 Dept. of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; 3 School of Psychology, Farleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ; 4 University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT; 5 Dept. of Psychology, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT; 6 Dept. of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Trinity College, Hartford, CT ; INTRODUCTION DISCUSSION -160 college freshmen (95 female) between the ages of 18 and 25 (M: 18.42, SD: 0.58 years) were recruited from the ongoing NIAAA- funded BARCS study on a voluntary basis from two demographically distinct colleges in Connecticut. Demographically, 78% of the students reported their racial background as white; 16% black; 11% Latino; and 4% Asian. -Measures of cognitive testing, monthly alcohol and drug use assessments, and psychiatric diagnoses were obtained for all subjects at their home colleges. Presence of a psychiatric diagnosis did not result in study exclusion as we hoped to obtain a representative sample. -The Life Event Scales for Students (LESS) is a 36-item college students life events inventory; scoring for negative life events is calculated using Covault et al.’s method 4 which does not count eleven ambiguously stressful events. Therefore, only twenty-five unambiguously negative stressful life events are summed up for students’ scores. -The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Version 11 (BIS-11) is a 30-item assessment that evaluates trait and cognitive elements of impulsivity. -The customized Alcohol Interview (ALI) is adapted from the Semi- Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcohol (SSAGA). This assessment gathers drinking behavior and consequences such as recent alcohol consumption, blackouts, pass outs, and sexual activity under the influence. Scores are calculated for total number of points towards drinking dysfunction (range of 0 to 120 points towards dysfunctional drinking, and a score of ≥ 10 points classifies as dysfunctional). -Analyses included correlation, regression, and product term calculations. Significance threshold was ≤ Funded by RO1 AA (BARCS Study) & RC1 AA to Dr. Godfrey Pearlson. Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students (BARCS Study ) “Mascot” - Impulsivity, the inclination to act without thought to consequences, is a factor in alcohol and drug abuse 1. -Extensive research implicates stress and impulsivity as independent risk factors for drinking 2. Both factors have also been associated with problem drinking in college students 3,4. - Drinking has been identified as a stress-coping mechanism 5 and severity and quantity of stressors are related to increased problem drinking 6. - Physiological studies assessing stress mechanisms implicate the role of impulsivity ‑ related behaviors on drinking in an adult community sample. Few have looked at trait impulsivity and stress simultaneously 7. - The current study addresses the relationships between alcohol use, stress, and impulsivity in a college sample. -We will observe that higher negative life stress and self-reported impulsivity will separately predict higher dysfunctional drinking scores. - In conjunction, negative life stress and higher self-reported impulsivity will predict greater dysfunctional drinking. RESULTS -There were no sex, family history, or ethnic differences in life stress, BIS-11 total scores, or ALI scores. -There were significant predictive relationships of BIS-11 total on ALI; marginal correlation and predictive relationship of LESS on ALI scores. -We observed marginal effects of LESS X BIS-11 total on ALI scores, such that higher self-reported impulsivity in conjunction with more negative life stress predicted more dysfunctional drinking. -Future research should assess the relationship of BIS-11 subscales with negative life events. Furthermore, assessment of specific negative life stressors may elucidate which stressors interact with impulsivity to predict dysfunctional drinking. -These findings suggest that negative life events and self- reported impulsivity are related to increased alcohol use; however, other factors (e.g. motivation, coping strategies, family/social support, etc.) may be more powerful predictors of alcohol use. 1.Perry, J.L. & Carroll, M.E. (1985). The role of impulsive behavior in drug abuse. Psychopharmacology, 200(1): Sinha, R. (2008). Chronic stress, drug use, and vulnerability to addiction. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1141: Baer, J.S. (2002). Student factors: understanding individual variation in college drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol Supplement, 14: Covault, J., Tennen, H., Armeli, S., Conner, T.S., Herman, A.I., Cillessen, A.H., Kranzler, H.R. (2007). Interactive effects of the serotonin transporter 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and stressful life events on college student drinking and drug use. Biological Psychiatry, 61(5): Wills, T.A. & Shiffman, S. (1985). Coping and substance abuse: a conceptual framework, in Coping and Substance Use (3-24). Orlando: Academic Press. 6.Ham, L.S. & Hope, D.A. (2003). College students and problematic drinking: a review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 23(5): Fox, H.C., Bergquist, K.L., Peihua, G., Rajita, S. (2010). Interactive effects of cumulative stress and impulsivity on alcohol consumption. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 34(8): Table 2. Regression Coefficients HYPOTHESES MATERIALS & METHODS REFERENCES Table 1. Descriptive Statistics N.B. :***: p≤.01; ** :p≤.05; *: p =0.1 ALI Dysfunctional Drinking Scores LESS Negative Stressful Life Events Figure 1. Marginal Interaction of Negative Life Stress X Self-Reported Impulsivity on Dysfunctional Drinking LOWHigh Variable Mean + SD LESS (stress)3.88 (+ 3.1) BIS-11 Total (impulsivity)59.58 (+10.6) ALI (drinking)14.88 (+ 14.1) Unstandardized BUnique r 2 LESS 0.621**.017 BIS-11 Total0.216*.024 LESS X BIS-11 Total0.53*.016 Figure 2. Negative Life Stress on Dysfunctional Drinking r 2 =.017* Figure 3. Self-Reported Impulsivity on Dysfunctional Drinking r 2 =.024**