Relationship between quality of life in young adults and impulsivity/compulsivity

Impulsive and compulsive symptoms often become apparent during young adulthood, which is a critical time for brain development and establishment of life goals. The aim of this study was to identify important associations with quality of life in young adults, across a range of clinical, questionnaire, and cognitive measures, focusing on impulsivity and compulsivity. Significant relationships between exploratory variables and quality of life were identified using Partial Least Squares (PLS). In the 479 participants (mean age 22.3 [SD 3.6] years), quality of life was best explained by a one-factor model (p < 0.001). Variables significantly associated with lower quality of life were: older age, greater alcohol consumption, and the presence of impulse control disorders (including gambling, compulsive buying, intermittent explosive disorder, compulsive sexual behavior, binge-eating, and skin picking), mood/anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorder. Worse quality of life was also significantly explained by higher impulsiveness on the Barratt scale, and by relative impairments in extra-dimensional set-shifting and quality of decision-making. These findings suggest that impulse disorders merit more public health attention, especially problematic gambling. Performance on decision-making and set-shifting tasks also appears particularly important in understanding quality of life in young adults.