Extensive longitudinal research shows that elevated impulsivity and related clinical phenotypes (e.g. ADHD) prospectively predict alcohol involvement (e.g. initiation, consumption, problematic use; Chassin, Pitts, & Prost, 2002; Defoe, Khurana, Betancourt, Hurt, & Romer, 2022; Elkins, King, McGue, & Iacono, 2006; Farmer et al., 2016; Fergusson, Horwood, & Ridder, 2007; King, Iacono, & McGue, 2004; Kuperman et al., 2013; Quinn & Harden, 2013; Stautz & Cooper, 2013; Wright & Jackson, 2023), in line with neurodevelopmental theories that impulsivity poses vulnerability to the initial seeking and rewarding aspects of alcohol use. A smaller body of work in large, prospective samples of youth and young adults suggests that alcohol use may be linked with increases in impulsive and externalizing phenotypes, possibly reflecting alcohol-induced neurocognitive impairment, reward learning, and/or shared genetic predisposition, consistent with the neurobiological stage-based model (Quinn, Stappenbeck, & Fromme, 2011; Staff, Maggs, Bucci, & Mongilio, 2019).
