ArticlePsychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy2020
Impulsivity as a mediating factor in the association between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and substance use.
Article in Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Increases in striatal response to reward anticipation relate to reductions in impulsivity in women with substance use disorders.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Article
- Stress-coping behavior during predator odor exposure is associated with differences in decision making.Addiction neuroscience · 2026Article
- Effects of Alpha Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation on Stress Reactivity and Decision Making: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Stress-coping behavior during predator odor exposure is associated with differences in decision making.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Scoping review of episodic future thinking and delay discounting observed in Alzheimer's disease, depression, and PTSD.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and food addiction in a large Polish sample: latent profile analysis.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Measure Impulsivity among Trauma-Exposed Adults.Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment · 2025Article
- The role of impulsivity in the association between rumination and cannabis-related problems among trauma-exposed cannabis users.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2025Article
- Mediating effect of risk propensity between impulsivity and psychotic experiences among Lebanese young adults.Discover mental health · 2025Article
- Neurocognitive function and medical care utilization in Veterans treated for substance use disorder.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2024Article
- Alcohol-Related Problems As Moderators of PTSD Symptom Change During Use of a Web-Based Intervention for Hazardous Drinking and PTSD.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2024Article
- Anhedonia and Delay Discounting: Differing Patterns of Brain-Behavior Relationships in Healthy Control Participants Versus Individuals With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2024Article
- Negative urgency, PTSD symptoms, and alcohol risk in college students.Addictive behaviors reports · 2023Article
- Proposing an integrative, dynamic and transdiagnostic model for addictions: dysregulation phenomena of the three main modes of the predostatic mind.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Elucidating the Neurobiologic Etiology of Comorbid PTSD and Substance Use Disorders.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- Examining Risk Factors in the Cannabis-Suicide Link: Considering Trauma and Impulsivity among University Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Life Event Stress and Reduced Cortical Thickness in Youth at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis and Healthy Control Subjects.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2022Article
- Hemodynamic activity in the limbic system predicts reoffending in women.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2022Article
- Impulsivity mediates the impact of early life adversity on high risk behaviors among Tunisian adolescents.Preventive medicine reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with heightened impulsivity and risk-taking behaviors, including higher rates of substance use than individuals without PTSD. Although a number of studies suggest that impulsivity is associated with substance use in PTSD, the specific role of impulsivity in this common pattern of comorbidity remains unclear. The current study investigated associations between PTSD symptoms, substance use patterns, and impulsivity in a sample of adults.
methodA total of 2,967 participants were recruited online through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants who did not report at least one Criterion A traumatic event on the Brief Trauma Questionnaire were excluded. The remaining 1,609 trauma-exposed individuals were placed into either the probable PTSD group (n = 406) or the trauma-exposed non-PTSD group (n = 1,203) based on their PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (PCL-5) score. Impulsivity was assessed via a delay discounting measure and the brief UPPS-P (urgency, premeditation, perseverance, sensation seeking, and positive urgency) Impulsive Behavior Scale. Alcohol and cannabis were assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test (CUDIT-R) scales, respectively.
resultsProbable PTSD participants exhibited steeper (more impulsive) delay discounting and endorsed more impulsive traits than participants in the trauma-exposed non-PTSD group. Moreover, the PTSD group reported significantly higher scores on both the AUDIT and CUDIT-R. Lastly, impulsive personality traits on the UPPS-P partially mediated the association between PTSD and both cannabis and alcohol use.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that trauma-exposed individuals who exhibit elevated PTSD symptoms show heightened impulsivity. It also appears that lower levels of impulsivity may serve as a protective factor among trauma-exposed individuals resilient to the development of PTSD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.