Smartphone Abuse Amongst Adolescents: The Role of Impulsivity and Sensation Seeking

Adolescence is the stage of development where the reward and emotional regulation systems are yet to be adjusted and where most excessive behaviors start, like smartphone abuse. In addition, in this evolutionary period adolescents are more susceptible to behavioral changes through specific interventions or educational programs. Thus, it is fundamental to analyze the personality profile of those adolescents showing excessive mobile phone usage to properly approach later prevention strategies. Impulsivity is one of the most repeated variables associated with teenage addictions, although it has been observed that not all impulsive behaviors need to be detrimental. The aim of this study is to analyze how impulsivity affects smartphone addiction directly, but also indirectly, by assessing its association with sensation seeking variables (thrill and adventure seeking, experience seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility) which are in turn decisive when using these technologies improperly. The sample was made up of 614 adolescents aged 13–18 attending secondary education from Burgos, Spain. Dickman Impulsivity Inventory, Sensation Seeking Scale, and Ad-hoc questionnaire on adolescent self-perception as to smartphone use were applied. Results show that 41.4% of participants admit to abusing smartphones sometimes, while 18.3% admit to abusing them more frequently and 24% to, at least ever, having defined themselves as smartphone addicts. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that gender (female), dysfunctional impulsivity and sensation seeking (disinhibition and thrill and adventure seeking) evidence 15.7% of variance in smartphone abuse. In addition, sensation seeking (thrill and adventure seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility) were found to mediate the relationship between dysfunctional impulsivity and smartphone abuse. Therefore, dysfunctional impulsivity was directly connected with teenage smartphone abuse, but also had an indirect stronger association through thrill and adventure seeking, disinhibition and boredom susceptibility.

The Dickman Impulsivity Inventory: Validation and measurement invariance among Portuguese young adults

The Dickman Impulsivity Inventory (DII) measures impulsive personality related to both negative and positive behaviors and characteristics. The main aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the DII among a Southern-European sample of Portuguese young adults. Our convenience sample (N = 429, M = 22.11 years, SD = 3.35, range = 18–42), composed of women (n = 237, M = 22.08 years, SD = 3.35, age range = 18–42) and men (n = 192, M = 22.14 years, SD = 3.34, range = 18–35), was collected from a university context. The two-factor latent structure of the DII composed of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity was supported, although three items had to be removed due to low standardized loadings, and strong cross-gender measurement invariance was established. Our analyses of the DII also provided evidence of criterion-related validity, known-groups validity, and internal consistency/reliability. Our findings support the use of the DII among Portuguese young adults.

Adaptation and validation of a German version of the Dickman impulsivity inventory for the assessment of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity

Impulsive behavior tends to have a negative connotation in the sense that it is usually associated with detrimental or dysfunctional outcomes. However, under certain circumstances, impulsive behaviors may also have beneficial or functional outcomes. Dickman’s Impulsivity Inventory (DII) measures these two distinct aspects of impulsivity, namely, dysfunctional impulsivity (the tendency to act with less forethought than do most people which leads to difficulties) and functional impulsivity (the tendency to act with little forethought when the situation is optimal). In the present study, we translated the DII into German and validated the German version in a sample of 543 adults. The original 23-item model was considered unsuitable for the German version as suggested by fit indices of a confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analyses rather supported a 16-item version. Further psychometric analyses and inferential statistical analyses on the final German DII indicated its appropriateness for use in German-speaking populations and support a two-factor solution of the DII. Finally, exploratory analyses on the German DII suggest differential relationships between dysfunctional and functional impulsivity and self-reported lifestyle-related variables (smoking, alcohol usage, and sports behavior).

ASSOCIATIONS AMONG FUNCTIONAL AND DYSFUNCTIONAL IMPULSIVITY: DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS ON SENSATION SEEKING IN YOUTH (19-25 YEARS OLD)

It is important to study the relationships between sensation seeking, functional and dysfunctional impulsivity to clarify the appropriateness and effectiveness of ways for seeking optimal stimulation. The aim of this study was to investigate if dysfunctional impulsivity had stronger direct and indirect effects on sensation seeking in youth with functional impulsivity as a mediator. Sensation seeking, functional and dysfunctional types of impulsivity were studied among 764 students from 19 to 25 years old by means of Radoslavova and Velichkov’s (2005) questionnaire. The results indicated that sensation seeking, functional and dysfunctional impulsivity correlated significantly and positively. Dysfunctional impulsivity was directly related to sensation seeking, as well as indirectly related to sensation seeking mediated by functional impulsivity. The findings also revealed that functional impulsivity was directly related to sensation seeking, as well as indirectly related to sensation seeking mediated by dysfunctional impulsivity. Dysfunctional impulsivity had larger direct effects on sensation seeking than functional impulsivity. Dysfunctional impulsivity also had larger effects as a mediator on sensation seeking than the effects of functional impulsivity as a mediator on sensation seeking. These findings suggest some deficiencies in the speed and accuracy of processing information, and the effectiveness of made decisions and implemented actions in search of optimal stimulation among youth.

Curiosity as a moderating variable between Impulsivity and Entrepreneurial Orientation

El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar si la curiosidad es una variable moderadora entre la Impulsividad y la Orientación Emprendedora. Se utiliza una muestra multiocupacional de 883 empleados españoles (49 % hombres, 51 % mujeres), obtenidos mediante un muestreo no probabilístico. Se ha utilizado el programa SPSS 23.0. Se encontraron correlaciones estadísticamente significativas entre todas las variables de la investigación a excepcion de la impulsividad Funcional. Finalmente, la evidencia empírica indica que la Curiosidad-D tiene un papel moderador entre la impulsividad Disfuncional y la Orientación Emprendedora mostrada, en el sentido de que la Curiosidad-D (entendida como una variable cuantitativa) afecta la intensidad de la relación entre la Impulsividad Disfuncional (variable predictora) y la Orientación Emprendedora (variable de criterio). The objective of the present study is to analyze whether the variable Curiosity is a moderating variable between Impulsivity and Entrepreneurial Orientation. The multi-occupational sample of 883 Spanish and Colombian employees (49% men, 51% women) was obtained through non-probabilistic sampling. The data collected were processed with the SPSS 23.0 program. Statistically significant correlations were found among all the research variables except for Functional Impulsivity. Finally, empirical evidence indicates that Curiosity-D plays a moderating role between Dysfunctional Impulsivity and Entrepreneurial Orientation in the sense that Curiosity-D (understood as a quantitative variable) affects the intensity of the relationship between Dysfunctional Impulsivity (predictor variable) and Entrepreneurial Orientation (criterion variable).

Direct and indirect effects of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity on sensation seeking in youth (19-25 years old)

This study was focused on the relationships between sensation seeking, functional and dysfunctional impulsivity in youth. The aim of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity on sensation seeking in youth controlled for gender and age in the group of 19–25-year-old. Radoslavova & Velichkov’s (2005) self-report paper-and-pencil questionnaire was used to measure sensation seeking, functional and dysfunctional types of impulsivity among 764 students. Dysfunctional impulsivity was directly and indirectly related to sensation seeking mediated by functional impulsivity and being statistically controlled for age and gender. Functional impulsivity also was directly and indirectly related to sensation seeking mediated by dysfunctional impulsivity with gender and age as controlled confound variables. Dysfunctional impulsivity had larger direct and indirect effects as a mediator on sensation seeking than the corresponding effects of functional impulsivity on sensation seeking controlling for age and gender. These findings suggest the possibility for existence of some deficiencies in the speed, accuracy, and effectiveness of processing information, making decisions, and implementing actions during the search for optimal stimulation among youth.

DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW RUMINATION SCALE

A new Brief Rumination Scale was constructed to measure rumination as repetitive thoughts about negative past events and regrets. Its good psychometric properties were established in a heterogeneous Bulgarian sample of 1274 healthy individuals – one-factor structure, high enough internal consistency, proven convergent, discriminant and intentional validity. It was found that rumination decreased with past positive time orientation and present hedonistic time orientation. Rumination increased with past negative time orientation and proneness to dysfunctional impulsivity. Regarding social differences in rumination, it was found that the participants whose income was above the medium (but not the highest one) and who were living in cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants were more prone to moderate rumination than expected – they emphasized on unfavorable events in their past and expressed regret about more omitted opportunities in their life. A brief, valid and reliable measure of rumination would shorten the process of conducting a study and would make it more probable the subjects to agree to participate in the study in this way enriching the scientific knowledge. Keywords: dysfunctional impulsivity, rumination measurement, scale development, time orientation

Interdependent Effect of Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking and Addictive Behaviour Including Excess Gaming, Facebooking and Internet Abusing

Impulsivity has been shown to be related to both substance- and non-substance addictions. In the case of internet gaming addiction, on one hand, higher impulsivity and sensation seeking have been reported in problematic online gamers. On the other hand, problematic online gamers were also identified as introverted, socially anxious, and generally inhibited in social behaviour. This review study tried to investigate and correlate the role of dysfunctional impulsivity and sensation seeking in gaming addiction. Online gamers completed a questionnaire that was advertised online and targeted the core of the gaming community. Internet gaming addiction was measured using the Addiction-Engagement Questionnaire. Dysfunctional impulsivity was measured using the 11 items of Dickman’s (1990) sub-scale of the Impulsivity Inventory. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated for variables and a regression model was constructed using hierarchical linear regression to determine the association between online gaming addiction and dysfunctional impulsivity, while controlling for age, gender, and the frequency of online gaming. A set of chi-square tests were employed to compare the patterns of addiction criteria among highly impulsive addicted gamers and non-impulsive addicted gamers. Dysfunctional impulsivity was a good predictor of gaming addiction (β = .252) which actually explained only about 7% of the addiction variance. Problematic gamers high on impulsivity had similar patterns of addiction criteria as non-impulsive gamers, with only one exception – they had a significantly higher tendency to relapse. There was no role of impulsivity in gaming engagement. The results suggested that dysfunctional impulsivity is a risk factor for online gaming addiction (similar to other addictions), but it does not have prominent explanatory value in itself. Also the results show that problematic gamers high on impulsivity are more prone to relapse and reinstatement.

Rethinking self-control and crime: Are all forms of impulsivity criminogenic?

Traditionally, criminological research on impulsivity and crime assumes impulsivity is a uniform construct that is positively related to deviant behavior. However, psychological research on impulsivity indicates that the construct may have multiple forms, which vary in their relationship to antisocial behavior. One possibility that few studies have examined is whether some forms of impulsivity are unrelated, or negatively related, to antisocial behavior. This study uses Dickman’s (1990) functional and dysfunctional impulsivity scales and finds that dysfunctional impulsivity is a better predictor of crime than functional impulsivity, but does not differ for substance use or school deviance. These results highlight ways that impulsivity measures can be refined in the future.