Based on cross-sectional data, we believed that several of the personality traits related to rash action would correlate with subsequent drinking behavior bivariately, but that an emotion-based disposition (positive urgency) would likely play the predominant role in predicting increases in drinking quantity and problems from drinking, whereas the need to seek stimulation would likely play the predominant role in predicting the frequency with which one chooses to drink. Our hypothesis was confirmed by these prospective data. Individually, four of the five traits correlated with time 2 drinking frequency and quantity (all but lack of perseverance) and all five correlated with time 2 drinking problems. But when the traits were considered together, corrected for time 1 drinking, only sensation seeking predicted increases in the frequency with which first-year college students consumed alcohol, and only positive urgency predicted increases in both the quantity of alcohol normally consumed and in negative outcomes associated with alcohol use.
