The Prospective Association of Negative Urgency With Hazardous Drinking Via Impaired Control: A Moderating Role of Alcohol Sensitivity.

Objective: Trait negative urgency is consistently associated with alcohol problems, and cross-sectional findings have suggested a mediational role of impaired control over alcohol. Initial evidence also suggests that individual differences in self-reported sensitivity to alcohol's effects may moderate the association between urgency and alcohol outcomes. The aim of this study was to replicate and extend these findings using prospective data.
Method: Young adult drinkers (N = 159, mean age = 18.87, SD = 1.16; 70.4% female) from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, completed an online survey at baseline and again 6 months later. Participants completed questionnaires measuring negative urgency, alcohol sensitivity, impaired control over alcohol, and hazardous drinking.
Results: Moderated mediation analyses revealed that the prospective indirect association between negative urgency at baseline and hazardous drinking at follow-up (mediated via increased impaired control at follow-up) was significant only for young adults who reported relatively lower alcohol sensitivity at baseline.
Conclusions: Using prospective data from a unique sample of young adults, the present study partially replicates prior cross-sectional findings suggesting that the indirect association between urgency and hazardous drinking via impaired control over alcohol is moderated by alcohol sensitivity.