Impulsivity and Alcohol Response

• Status: Recruiting
• Trial end date: 2022-07-31
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Impulsivity, a well-known risk factor predicting negative outcomes, refers broadly to a proclivity towards rapid action with a suboptimal regard for future consequences. Importantly, impulsivity is a multidimensional construct incorporating generalized and behavioral facets. However, underlying mechanisms linking facets of impulsivity to high-risk drinking remain uncertain. Such mechanisms, if uncovered, may be more appropriate intervention targets than impulsivity directly.

Similar to impulsivity, subjective response to alcohol (SR), or individual differences in sensitivity to the pharmacologic effects of alcohol, is an established risk factor for alcohol use disorder. Specifically, experiencing heightened rewarding stimulation and dampened aversive sedation from alcohol are related to high-risk drinking. Theory and recent findings indicate SR and impulsivity may be related, suggesting SR may be a mechanism linking facets of impulsivity to high-risk drinking. However, findings linking impulsivity to SR were all from secondary data analyses and most studies reported on only a single measure of impulsivity. For these reasons, an original data collection using laboratory alcohol administration methods is needed to address which facets of impulsivity are related to SR among young adult drinkers and whether these effects manifest while blood alcohol concentrations are increasing or declining.

This study will utilize a laboratory alcohol administration design to investigate whether distinct facets of impulsivity (i.e., generalized, choice, response) are related to subjective responses (i.e., stimulation and sedation) following alcohol administration.

• Phase: Early Phase 1
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of Florida
• Collaborators: American Psychological Association; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
• Treatments: Ethanol

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be between the ages of 21-30

• Be able to read English and complete study evaluations

• Drink alcohol regularly

• Be willing to consume vodka-based alcoholic beverages

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have positive urine screen results at the in-person screening or on the day of an alcohol drinking session for illegal drugs

• A woman who is pregnant, nursing, or refuses to use a reliable method of birth control.

• A current undergraduate or graduate student at any level in one of the departments that make up the College of Health and Human Performance (HHP) at the University of Florida (UF), where Dr. Leeman's faculty appointment is.