Trajectories of Binge Drinking and Personality Change Across Emerging Adulthood

College students binge drink more frequently than the broader population, yet most individuals “mature out” of binge drinking. Impulsivity and sensation seeking traits are important for understanding who is at risk for maintaining binge drinking across college and the transition to adult roles. 

We use latent class growth analysis (LCGA) to examine longitudinal binge-drinking trajectories spanning from the end of high school through two years after college (mean ages 18.4 to 23.8). Data were gathered over 10 waves from students at a large Southwestern university (N = 2,245). We use latent factor models to estimate changes in self-reported impulsive (IMP) and sensation-seeking (SS) personality traits across two time periods – (1) the end of high school to the end of college, and (2) across the two-year transition out of college. 

LCGA suggested seven binge drinking trajectories: Frequent, Moderate, Increasing, Occasional, Low Increasing, Decreasing, and Rare. Models of personality showed that from high school through college, change in SS and IMP generally paralleled drinking trajectories, with Increasing and Decreasing individuals showing corresponding changes in SS. Across the transition out of college, only the Increasing group demonstrated a developmentally deviant increase in IMP, whereas all other groups showed normative stability or decreases in both IMP and SS. These data indicate that “late bloomers,” who begin binge drinking only in the later years of college, are a unique at-risk group for drinking associated with abnormal patterns of personality maturation during emerging adulthood. 

Our results indicate that personality targeted interventions may benefit college students.

Below:  Latent Difference Scores by Latent Trajectory Class

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/GcbTA2

By:  James R. Ashenhurst, Kathryn P. Harden, William R. Corbin, and Kim Fromme

James R. Ashenhurst, Psychology Department, University of Texas at Austin.

Contributor Information.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: James R. Ashenhurst, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A8000, Austin, TX 78712. Email: ude.saxetu@tsruhnehsa.semaj

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