Pubertal Status, Sensation-Seeking, Impulsivity, and Substance Use in High-School-Aged Boys and Girls

Objective To examine how factors such as pubertal status, sensation-seeking, and impulsivity are related to substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) in high school students and examine these associations by gender. Methods Ten public high schools in Connecticut participated in a survey of high-risk behaviors. Adolescents from grades 9 to 12 (N = 3068) completed measures of physical development (Pubertal Development Scale), perceived pubertal timing, impulsivity and sensation-seeking (Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire-Form III), and cigarette, marijuana, and alcohol use in the past 30 days. Results Logistic regression analyses modeling each substance use (cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol) and gender separately showed that (1) early perceived pubertal timing was associated with cigarette use but Pubertal Development Scale was not associated with any substance use, (2) sensation-seeking was associated with use of all 3 substances, and (3) gender differences were detected: impulsivity was associated with use of all 3 substances among girls, but this was not found among boys. Conclusion Future studies should examine the relationship among pubertal status, sensation-seeking, and impulsivity from preadolescence through late adolescence to better understand how these relationships to substance use may change with time and growth.