notion that early childhood trauma would play a role in establishing this set-point. Our data indicate that emotional abuse is positively associated with high levels of neurotic personality traits in general; however, only the impulsiveness subfacet was found to subsequently influence alcohol dependence severity. The impulsiveness subfacet represents the tendency to act on urges rather than reigning them in to delay gratification (Costa and McCrae, 2002). In line with the emphasis on negative affect, the impulsiveness subfacet most likely reflects negative urgency, or the tendency to act rashly when experiencing negative mood (Dick et al., 2010). The consistent experience of negative mood coupled with increased negative urgency may be a driving force behind heavy alcohol consumption and thus more severe dependence.
