Although alcohol use and related problems are highly prevalent in emerging adulthood overall, college students drink somewhat more than do their peers who do not attend college. The personal or social influences underlying this difference, however, are not yet well understood. The present study examined whether personality traits (i.e., self-regulation and sensation seeking) and peer influence (i.e., descriptive drinking norms) contributed to student status differences. At approximately age 22, 4-year college students (n = 331) and noncollege emerging adults (n = 502) completed web-based surveys, including measures of alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, personality, and social norms. College students drank only slightly more heavily. This small difference, however, reflected personality suppression. College students were lower in trait-based risk for drinking, and accounting for traits revealed a stronger positive association between attending college and drinking more heavily. Although noncollege emerging adults reported greater descriptive drinking norms for social group members, norms appeared to more strongly influence alcohol use among college students. Finally, despite drinking less, noncollege individuals experienced more alcohol-related problems. The association between attending college and drinking heavily may be larger than previously estimated, and it may be masked by biased selection into college as a function of both self-regulation and sensation seeking. Differing patterns of alcohol use, its predictors, and its consequences emerged for the college and noncollege samples, suggesting that differing intervention strategies may best meet the needs of each population. / text

The current study examined divergences among impulsivity and sensation seeking items from the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire Impulsive Sensation Seeking scale in terms of their relations to other personality models, deviance, and laboratory task outcomes. A sample of 654 undergraduates was gathered across two studies and given a Five Factor Model of personality measure (e.g. NEO Five Factor Inventory, NEO Five Factor Report Form), deviance measures (e.g. Antisocial Behavior Inventory, Explicit Attitudes Towards Marijuana Questionnaire), and three laboratory tasks (e.g. Balloon Analogue Risk Task, Newmans Card-Playing Task). Results demonstrated the hypothesized divergences among impulsivity and sensation seeking items on measures of personality and deviance as well as laboratory tasks. We conclude that Impulsive Sensation Seeking is multidimensional and would be more useful if employed as two independent constructs: (Lack of) Premeditation and Sensation Seeking.

abstract: The present study tested the respective mediating effects of sensation seeking and initial level of response (LR) to negative, sedative alcohol effects on the relation between the density of familial history of alcoholism and adolescent alcohol use. Additionally, the present study tested the direct effect of LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects on adolescent drinking over and above the effects of sensation seeking; and also tested the moderating effect of sensation seeking on the relation between level of response negative, sedative alcohol effects and adolescent drinking. Specifically, OLS regression models first estimated the effects of sensation seeking, LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects, and their interaction on alcohol outcomes, over and above the influence of covariates. Indirect effects were then tested using the PRODCLIN method through RMediation. Analyses failed to support sensation seeking as a mediator in the relation between familial history of alcoholism and adolescent drinking, and as a moderator of the relation between LR and adolescent drinking. However, analyses did support a robust direct effect of LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects on adolescent alcohol involvement. A significant mediating effect of initial LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects on the relation between familial alcoholism and adolescent drinking was found, however failed to maintain significance in post-hoc analyses attenuating the downward bias of the measure of initial LR. Initial LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects continued to predict adolescent drinking after attenuating measure bias. These findings strengthen research on initial LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects as a risk for greater alcohol involvement in adolescence, and underscore the complexity of studying the familial transmission of alcoholism in adolescent populations / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2015

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The current study aimed to test sensation seeking as a mediator in the relationship between arousal and aggression. In addition, an experimental design was used to test whether arousal can be manipulated to alter levels of sensation seeking and aggression, both measured behaviorally. A sample of 128 undergraduate students completed state and trait measures of sensation seeking and aggression, and baseline measures of physiology. It was hypothesized that trait sensation seeking would mediate the relationship between baseline physiology and trait aggression. Also, state sensation seeking would mediate the relationship between an arousal manipulation and state aggression. The results failed to support the proposed mediation models. Furthermore, the arousal manipulation was insufficient to result in sustained heart rate differences, and therefore the malleability of state sensation seeking and aggression could not truly be tested. Exploratory analyses supported an interaction between arousal and sensation seeking, such that in individuals low on experience seeking, disinhibition and boredom susceptibility, low heart rate was associated with greater aggression. These findings suggest that arousal and sensation seeking may conjointly predict aggression through moderation rather than mediation, though future studies with improved experimental designs are needed. / Ph. D.

Einleitung: Das Persönlichkeitsmerkmal Sensation Seeking (SS) zeichnet sich durch die Suche nach Spannung, Abwechslung und neuen Erlebnissen sowie der Vermeidung von Langeweile aus. In der Literatur wird diskutiert, dass sich unterschiedlich starke Ausprägungen darin auf einem individuellen optimalen Erregungsniveau begründen, das ständig angestrebt wird. Die körperliche Betätigung dient dabei als Möglichkeit, dieses Niveau zu erreichen. Ziel dieser Studie war die Untersuchung des Zusammenhangs zwischen SS und dem körperlichen Aktivitätslevel, welches mit einem Aktometer gemessen wurde. Methoden: Es wurden 51 körperlich und psychisch gesunde Probanden im Alter von 18 bis 59 Jahren untersucht. Zur Erfassung des Traits SS wurde das Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS) eingesetzt, welches keinerlei sport- bzw. aktivitätsspezifische Items beinhaltet und in die Subskalen Intensität und Neuigkeit unterteilt ist. Als objektives Maß der körperlichen Aktivität wurde der gesamte und aktive Energieumsatz benutzt, der anhand des Aktometers SenseWear PRO2 der Firma BodyMedia gemessen wurde und in Kalorien angegeben wird. Zur Berechnung des Zusammenhangs zwischen SS und körperlicher Aktivität wurden sowohl bivariate als auch partielle Korrelationen verwendet, wobei bei letzterem der BMI als Kontrollvariable diente. Zur Berechnung der AISS-Scores kamen für Alter und Geschlecht normierte T-Werte zum Einsatz. Ergebnisse: Signifikante Werte fanden sich bei beiden Korrelationsanalysen zwischen dem gesamten Energieumsatz und der Gesamtskala des AISS (partiell: r = 0,279; p < 0,05) sowie der Subskala Intensität (partiell: r = 0,363; p < 0,009). Der aktive Energieumsatz zeigte keinen signifikanten Zusammenhang zu SS. Diskussion: Die Ergebnisse stimmen mit den Aussagen vorangegangener Studien überein, die bereits Zusammenhänge zwischen SS und sportlicher Aktivität berichteten. SS scheint also nicht nur mit riskanten Sportarten assoziiert zu sein, sondern vielmehr mit einem generell erhöhten Aktivitätsniveau. Dieser Zusammenhang zeigt sich in der vorliegenden Studie vor allem im niedrigeren Aktivitätsbereich und deutet daher auf eine erhöhte Grundaktivität hin. Es konnte weiterhin gezeigt werden, dass der Zusammenhang nicht auf die Verwendung sport- bzw. aktivitätsspezifischer Items in den Fragebögen zurückzuführen ist. Kritisch anzumerken sei der geringe Stichprobenumfang der Studie von N = 51. Der Vorteil dieser Studie ist die in der SS-Forschung erstmalige Verwendung eines Aktometers zur Erhebung objektiver Aktivitätswerte.

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Augmenting/reducing of the evoked potential has been shown to be related to sensation seeking (SS) and specific clinical disorders. Buchsbaum demonstrated that patients with bipolar affective disorders (BAD) tend to be augmenters, as is the case with sensation seekers, and patients with unipolar affective disorders (UPD) tend to be reducers. In addition, he reported that prophylactic medication reduced the tendency to augment in bipolar patients. However, evidence for these relations is restricted to a few studies. This study explores whether Buchsbaum’s initial findings can be found in a naturalistic clinical setting. Acoustic evoked potentials were recorded for six levels of intensity (59, 71, 79, 88, 92, 96 dB SPL) from 24 healthy adults, 21 unipolar depressed patients, and 21 patients with BAD. Participants also completed personality questionnaires, especially the Sensation Seeking Scales Form V. Results revealed a positive correlation between SS and augmenting/reducing in healthy controls, thereby replicating earlier findings. Bipolar depressed patients showed larger P1/N1 slopes than healthy controls, when medication was statistically controlled. Unipolar depressed patients showed smaller P2 slopes, but only when medication was not controlled. Implications of these results for further research on augmenting/reducing and affective disorders and their relationship to SS are discussed. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Psychomotor stimulant abuse is a significant public health problem. While many individuals experiment with stimulants, there is marked variability in individuals' behavioral and subjective response to these drugs and these differences may be associated with their risk for abuse. One characteristic shown to be associated with drug abuse is sensation seeking, defined as the seeking of novel sensations and experiences and the willingness to take risks for the sake of such experiences. While observational studies have shown that individuals with elevated sensation seeking are more likely to report stimulant use and abuse, less clear is whether subjective and behavioral response to acute stimulant administration may vary as a function of sensation seeking status. We recently completed an outpatient laboratory study in which 37 healthy adults received repeated opportunities to sample and choose between d-amphetamine (d-AMPH; 5, 10, 20 mg/70kg) or placebo. That study provided an opportunity to examine associations between sensation seeking and d-AMPH choice and subjective response under rigorous double-blind experimental conditions. The Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale V was administered at intake, providing a Total sensation seeking score as well as four subscales (i.e., Experience Seeking, Disinhibition, Thrill and Adventure Seeking, Boredom Susceptibility). We hypothesized that elevated sensation seeking at intake would be associated with increased preference for d-AMPH over placebo in subsequent choice sessions, as well as greater positive d-AMPH subjective effects. Among males, increased baseline sensation seeking was associated with increased d-AMPH choice and positive subjective effects at the 5 and 10 mg/70 kg doses. Among females we found no significant associations between sensation seeking and d-AMPH choice or subjective effects. Finally, when the association between sensation seeking and other baseline characteristics was examined, there was a significant positive association with lifetime drug use as well as impulsivity. Taken together, our data suggest that elevated sensation seeking in males may be associated with increased sensitivity to d-AMPH reinforcement and positive subjective effects, suggesting increased vulnerability for stimulant use and abuse.