Franken Ingmar H A, Prinzie Peter
Center for Substance use and Addiction Research, Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Addict Behav. 2025 Jun;165:108303. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108303. Epub 2025 Feb 18.
The Five Factor Model (FFM or Big 5) traits of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness, have all been associated with alcohol use. However, the vast majority of these studies have used cross-sectional designs, limiting the ability to evaluate the temporal relationships between childhood personality traits in adult alcohol use patterns. In the current prospective community cohort study (N = 329), we examine the predictive value of FFM traits measured in childhood and adolescence (starting at 6-9 years of age; well before the typical age at which adolescents begin drinking) for alcohol use in adulthood (27-30 years of age), spanning an average of 22 years. Personality was assessed with the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) across 5 consecutive waves utilizing multiple informants (child, mother, father, and teachers). Alcohol use was measured by the self-report Quantity-Frequency Variability Index (QFV). A series of regression analyses indicates that during adolescence, high levels of extraversion and low levels of agreeableness are both (independently) associated with heavier drinking. These associations are robust and consistent from the first adolescent wave (age 12-15 years) to the last adolescent wave. Notably, informant-dependent measures from early childhood waves (ages 6-9) were not significant predictors, highlighting the importance of considering developmental context and informant variability. By leveraging a longitudinal design with temporally separated measures of personality and alcohol use, this study minimizes concerns about reverse causality. The results highlight the long-term relevance of adolescent personality traits in understanding adult drinking behavior and suggest that targeted prevention strategies focusing on highly extraverted and low-agreeable adolescents may help reduce harmful drinking patterns later in life.
外向性、宜人性、尽责性、神经质和开放性这五种人格特质（五因素模型或大五人格）均与饮酒行为有关。然而，这些研究绝大多数采用的是横断面设计，限制了评估儿童期人格特质与成人饮酒模式之间时间关系的能力。在当前的前瞻性社区队列研究（N = 329）中，我们考察了在儿童期和青少年期（始于6 - 9岁；远早于青少年开始饮酒的典型年龄）测量的五因素模型特质对成年期（27 - 30岁）饮酒行为的预测价值，时间跨度平均为22年。使用多渠道信息提供者（儿童、母亲、父亲和教师），通过儿童分层人格量表（HiPIC）在连续5个阶段对人格进行评估。饮酒行为通过自我报告的数量 - 频率变异指数（QFV）来测量。一系列回归分析表明，在青少年期，高水平的外向性和低水平的宜人性均（独立地）与饮酒量较大有关。从青少年的第一阶段（12 - 15岁）到最后阶段，这些关联都是稳健且一致的。值得注意的是，儿童早期阶段（6 - 9岁）依赖信息提供者的测量结果并不是显著的预测因素，这凸显了考虑发展背景和信息提供者差异的重要性。通过采用纵向设计，对人格和饮酒行为进行时间上分离的测量，本研究将对反向因果关系的担忧降至最低。研究结果凸显了青少年人格特质在理解成人饮酒行为方面的长期相关性，并表明针对高度外向和宜人性较低的青少年的有针对性预防策略可能有助于减少日后生活中的有害饮酒模式。
