Abstract

RODRIGUES WILLHELM, Alice; SIQUEIRA PEREIRA, Anderson; KOLLER, Sílvia Helena  and  MARTINS DE ALMEIDA, Rosa Maria. High levels of impulsivity and alcohol consumption in adolescence. rev.latinoam.psicol. [online]. 2018, vol.50, n.1, pp.1-8. ISSN 0120-0534.  https://doi.org/10.14349/rlp.2018.v50.n1.1.

The aim of this study was verify if adolescents who tried alcohol beverage showed less inhibitory control and higher impulsivity compared with those who never drank. The sample was collected in six public and private schools in Porto Alegre and were tested 122 adolescents age between 13 and 16 years, from both sexes. The instruments used were: Questionnaire about early drug use, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (adapted for age group which measure impulsiveness and is divides in three subscales, motor, attentional and non-planning), Go/NoGo task (computerized task which evaluate inhibitory control through number of errors) and Five Digits Test (test that evaluate inhibitory control through two measures, flexibility and inhibition). A comparison was made between two groups, adolescents who already consumed alcohol and those who did not. The groups were compared with Student's t test in impulsiveness and inhibitory control variables. There were significant differences in impulsivity variables in all subscales of the BIS, but there were no significant differences in other inhibitory control variables. The literature reports that impulsive behaviors during adolescence occur for lack of full maturation of the prefrontal region and this may be associated with early alcohol consumption, what can explain the higher scores of impulsivity in the adolescents that already used alcohol found in this study.

Keywords : Adolescent; impulsive behavior; alcohol consumption; control of inhibition.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )