From executive control to self-control: Predicting problem drinking among college students

Abstract

This tudy tested whether individual differences in executive control can be used to predict problem drinking among college students. Performance on tests of executive control functions was contrasted in two groups of students. The groups were defined by how often they experienced negative consequences of drinking. The executive control measures included both objective and self-report measures from neuropsychological batteries, and a novel measure of working memory scanning that allowed us to test performance on theoretically dissociable executive functions. The students who experienced high levels of negative consequences of drinking made fast decisions, but they displayed high levels of interference from prepotent responses. In addition, the self-report measure of executive function was a very strong predictor of group membership. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.