alcohol involvement (especially from ages 18–25), such that a trajectory group characterized by significant decreases in impulsivity from ages 18–25 was more likely to undergo significant decreases in a variety of alcohol-related indices (including consumption and consequence measures) across this period of time compared to other trajectory groups. Providing a more refined picture of the dynamic relation between impulsivity and alcohol involvement, findings from this recent work suggest that individuals high and comparatively stable in impulsivity are especially susceptible to maintain elevated levels of problematic alcohol involvement during emerging adulthood. Further, though the data were still correlational in nature and thus causal relations between impulsivity and alcohol cannot be completely determined, the patterns of covariation among these constructs suggests that alcohol use appears to be a trailing (i.e., a consequence of) indicator of impulsivity development (as opposed to leading, etiologic predictors of developmental course; see Littlefield et al., in 2010; Sher Gotham, & Watson, 2004).
