Longitudinal Associations between Sensation Seeking and Its Components and Alcohol Use in Young SWISS Men—Are There Bidirectional Associations?

The association between alcohol use and sensation seeking is well known. Less is known about whether longitudinal changes in alcohol use are associated with changes in sensation seeking and in which direction influence might flow. 5125 men aged 20.0 years old at baseline and 25.4 years old at follow-up responded to the Brief Sensation Seeking Questionnaire, which measures four subscales of experience seeking, boredom susceptibility, thrill- and adventure-seeking, and disinhibition. Alcohol use was measured using volume (drinks per week) and binge drinking (about 60 g or more per occasion). Associations were calculated using cross-lagged panel models and two-wave latent change score models. Correlations between the latent change scores for alcohol use and the sensation-seeking subscales were all positive, being largest for disinhibition (r > 0.3) and much smaller (r ~ 0.1) for the others. Disinhibition was the dominant effect over the entire sensation-seeking scale. Cross-lagged paths were (except for thrill- and adventure-seeking) bidirectional and mostly higher from alcohol use to sensation seeking (e.g., path(volume-disinhibition) = 0.136, and path(disinhibition-volume) = 0.072). Again, effects were highest for disinhibition. Given the bidirectional links between sensation seeking and alcohol use, preventive efforts aiming to achieve stable positive changes in alcohol use and personality should target both simultaneously and focus on disinhibition.