Impulsive Teens Are More Likely to Drink Heavily

University of Liverpool researchers claim that, according to their investigation, youth that often fail to control their impulses are more prone to binge drinking than those who display more self-control are.

Bottom line, impulsive teens are more likely to drink heavily when given the opportunity to do so, thus endangering both themselves and their friends.

What's more, it is probable that they will continue displaying this behavior long after entering adulthood.

The scientists say that, if their findings are accurate, it would be possible to keep adolescents from drinking not by trying to control their access to alcoholic beverages, but by targeting the personality trait (i.e. impulsiveness) that triggers this behavior in the first place, EurekAlert reports.

“It is important to identify the psychological characteristics of adolescents who are likely to go on to drink heavily, because this can help us target alcohol prevention more effectively.”

“Our results show that more impulsive individuals are more likely to start drinking heavily in the future compared to less impulsive individuals. The next steps are to take these results and apply them to prevention interventions that are tailored to individual characteristics, such as impulsiveness,” Professor Matt Field explained.