Posted on 06/29/2010 7:34:46 AM PDT by decimon
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Previous studies have found that the personality trait impulsivity, or a lack of planning and forethought regarding behaviors, is associated with alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders. For most individuals, impulsivity decreases during emerging and young adulthood. Some, however, do not “mature out” of impulsivity. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that individuals who exhibited the largest declines in impulsivity from ages 18-25 also exhibited the sharpest decreases in alcohol consumption during this time frame. Understanding why some individuals “mature out” of impulsivity and others do not could lead to improved treatment for alcohol-use disorders.
“In the past, psychologists have viewed impulsivity as a consistent trait over a person’s lifetime,” said Andrew Littlefield, a doctoral student in clinical psychology and lead author on the paper. “Now, there is growing evidence that there are pronounced changes during emerging and young adulthood, roughly from the ages 18 to 35. Our study found that there are substantial individual differences in personality change. These differences appear to relate to the range of alcohol use measures and alcohol-related problems.”
(Excerpt) Read more at munews.missouri.edu ...
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“Previous studies have found that the personality trait impulsivity, or a lack of planning and forethought regarding behaviors, is associated with alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders.”
Ya think??
That's a pretty impulsive reply. ;-)
Unfortunately, I’m not drinking yet ....
And smoking cigars is statistically associated with a long wealthy life. Correlation does not imply causation.
What cigars, 50 cent White Owls?
Nor deny causation. What you say is true but this association probably matches most peoples' experience.
The bottom line is that parents, and the law, are doing the right thing by keeping most addictive substances away from children before their brains have physically matured.
Before the age of between 18-23, the brain is far more flexible than at maturity. And it will adapt to addictive substances much easier, and more, the more of those substances it is exposed to. Once the brain is adapted to those substances, addiction is far easier, and breaking addiction is far more difficult.
Importantly, there seems to be some crossover, because one addictive drug can lead to having a “addictive personality”, leading to other addictive drugs. This is the “gateway” problem of ‘soft drugs’ leading to ‘hard drugs’.
Children should also be discouraged from having positive associations with addictive substances. Such associations motivate people to consume such substances from reasons than the substances themselves. For example, first tobacco use in a calm and not comfortable situation focuses on the fact that tobacco tastes awful. But in a party atmosphere, with food and drink and other diversions, the awful taste can be ignored in favor of the positive associations. Associating tobacco use with fun.
So the bottom line is that such substances should be infrequent and minimized in childhood, and efforts should be made to prevent positive associations with them.
This is why AA and some Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are required for alcoholics to keep them disciplined and on track. As an alcoholic, it takes a lot of work to think through the consequences of my actions. Even if I’m abstinent.
The article implies reducing alcohol intake causes someone to mature their impulse control, however less alcohol consumption may very well be a side-effect of improved impulse control instead. I'm tired of junk science.
Even back in the 1980s, the military knew that once you were an alcoholic, it had to be assumed that the judgment center of your brain was damaged, and would remain so for six months after you stopped drinking. So I would guess that AA can’t really start to take effect until people have been dry for that long. After that, they can start to respond, for real.
They’ll still be young and drunk enough to vote for Zero in 2012.
They say it takes 90 days for “walking sense”. 3-5 years to get your faculties back granted there is no alcohol.
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