This creates a conundrum in the literature whereby the connection between alcohol dependence, other drug dependence, antisocial adult behavior, and childhood conduct disorder is thought to be explained by a shared unitary factor that is construed as ‘impulsivity’, despite literature suggesting a multidimensional entity. As part of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), we collected multiple measures related to impulsivity, including Barrett’s Impulsivity scale, Zuckerman’s Sensation-Seeking scale, and the NEO Big Five Personality Inventory, in a prospective sample of adolescents and young adults (N = 2,128, with phenotypic and genotypic data). In addition, symptom counts for childhood conduct disorder, alcohol and other drug dependence, and adult antisocial behavior (for individuals aged ≥18) were obtained through clinical interview, and subclinical levels of externalizing behavior were collected using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. We conducted exploratory analyses to test the extent to which a specific gene, GABRA2, was associated with these various clinical, subclinical, and personality measures of impulsive behavior.
