The role of negative urgency in risky alcohol drinking and binge-eating in United Kingdom male and female students

Identifying students at risk of developing binge-eating and alcohol use disorders is a priority in the United Kingdom (UK). Although relationships between negative urgency (impulsive behavior during times of negative emotion), risky drinking, and binge-eating have been established in students from other countries, these links have yet to be replicated in male and female UK students. UK students aged 18–30 (n = 155) completed the: (1) the Urgency, Pre-meditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking (UPPS-P) negative urgency subscale; (2) Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT); and (3) Binge-Eating Scale (BES). For categorical analysis, participants were assigned to one of four groups as a function of AUDIT and BES clinical cut-off scores: (1) no risk (28%); (2) risky drinkers (47%); (3) binge-eaters (6%); and (4) risky drinkers + binge-eaters (19%). For dimensional analysis, across students with non-zero AUDIT and BES scores (n = 141), BES, AUDIT, gender, and their interactions were entered as predictors in the same block of a regression. UPPS-P negative urgency was the dependent variable. Categorical results indicated that binge-eaters with and without risky drinking endorsed significantly higher negative urgency than students with no risk. Dimensional results showed that although higher BES and AUDIT scores were positively linked to higher negative urgency, but only the BES was significantly associated. Furthermore, BES shared substantially more variance with negative urgency than the AUDIT, and the BES-negative urgency relationship was stronger in male students than female students. High risk students may benefit the most from interventions that help regulate negative emotion.