Impulsivity and current alcohol use in adolescents

Introduction Many studies have focused on the strong link between impulsivity and addictive behaviors, such as alcohol use disorders. Objective Our study aimed to investigate the links between alcohol use and impulsivity in a sample of Tunisian pupils. Methods This was a cross-sectional study conducted in May and June 2016. It enrolled 317 pupils from four colleges and schools in Sfax (Tunisia). The participants were asked to answer a self-administered questionnaire, after their consent. Alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) was used to evaluate alcohol dependence. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), in its 11th version, was used to assess impulsivity trait. Its three second-order factors were attentional impulsiveness, motor impulsiveness, and non-planning impulsiveness. Results The mean age was 16 years with a sex-ratio of 1.07. The school children reported having drunk alcohol at least once in 18.9% of cases and 41.66% of them still consume. According to AUDIT, 1.6% of alcohol users presented an alcohol misuse and 21.6% presented dependence. According to BIS, impulsivity prevalence (IP) in the whole sample was 27.8% while it was 40% among the alcoholic participants versus 24.9% in non-alcoholic participants. The average BIS score was more important in the alcoholic participants (69.25 versus 65.53; P  = 0.011). Alcohol consumption was correlated to attentional impulsiveness ( P  = 0.01) and motor impulsiveness ( P  = 0.008). Alcohol dependence was correlated to motor impulsiveness ( P  = 0.018). Conclusion These results show the importance of clinically evaluating and intervening on impulsive personality traits to better prevent addictive behavior such as alcoholism among adolescents.