Interplay between sensation seeking and risky alcohol drinking in Mexican adolescents: An structural modeling equation approach

Alcohol drinking represents one of the most important public health problems in adolescents. One axis of analysis of the correlates that affect alcohol consumption in adolescents is personality traits. In particular, sensation seeking maintains a consistent relationship with consumer behaviors. The objective of this research was tested in a structural equation model to show the structural effect of sensation seeking on risky alcohol drinking. The sensation seeking inventory (Palacios, 2015a) was used and alcohol drinking was measured with a survey of a sample of 550 Mexico City youth between 14 and 23 (𝑀 = 16.88; 𝑆𝐷 = 1.3) years old The results indicated the factorial validity of alcohol drinking in this sample. The structural equation modeling analyses suggested sensation seeking is a significant predictor for alcohol drinking behavior. The discussion analyzes the influence of sensation seeking on alcohol drinking and suggests implications for interventions.