Elsevier

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 68, Issue 8, 15 October 2010, Pages 770-773
Biological Psychiatry

Brief Report
Drug Addiction Endophenotypes: Impulsive Versus Sensation-Seeking Personality Traits

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.06.015Get rights and content
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Background

Genetic factors have been implicated in the development of substance abuse disorders, but the role of pre-existing vulnerability in addiction is still poorly understood. Personality traits of impulsivity and sensation-seeking are highly prevalent in chronic drug users and have been linked with an increased risk for substance abuse. However, it has not been clear whether these personality traits are a cause or an effect of stimulant drug dependence.

Method

We compared self-reported levels of impulsivity and sensation-seeking between 30 sibling pairs of stimulant-dependent individuals and their biological brothers/sisters who did not have a significant drug-taking history and 30 unrelated, nondrug-taking control volunteers.

Results

Siblings of chronic stimulant users reported significantly higher levels of trait-impulsivity than control volunteers but did not differ from control volunteers with regard to sensation-seeking traits. Stimulant-dependent individuals reported significantly higher levels of impulsivity and sensation-seeking compared with both their siblings and control volunteers.

Conclusions

These data indicate that impulsivity is a behavioral endophenotype mediating risk for stimulant dependence that may be exacerbated by chronic drug exposure, whereas abnormal sensation-seeking is more likely to be an effect of stimulant drug abuse.

Key Words

BIS-11
endophenotypes
impulsivity
sensation-seeking
substance dependence
vulnerability marker

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