The precise relationship between self-regulatory abilities and substance use has not been fully elucidated. Several researchers have investigated the role that self-regulatory temperament (e.g., relatively stable individual differences in self-regulatory ability) may play in promoting vulnerability to or resilience relevant to other contextual risk factors for substance use (Stice and Gonzales 1998; Wills et al. 2001a, b; Wills and Dishion 2004). Wills and colleagues proposed using epigenetic theory to explain this interaction between temperament and contextual factors (Wills et al. 2001a, b), purporting that temperament organizes behavioral patterns that grow more complex during the development of increasingly sophisticated cognitive, emotional, and behavioral regulation skills. With regard to substance use, Wills proposed that temperament variables will not have a direct relationship to growth in substance use over time, but they will affect the extent to which one is influenced by family and peer environments, which in turn affects risk for substance use (Wills and Dishion 2004).
