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Predictive utility of the NEO-FFI for later substance experiences among 16-year-old adolescents

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Abstract

Purpose

The onset of substance use mostly occurs during adolescence. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relevance of personality on the basis of the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) to future experiences with tobacco, alcohol and cannabis.

Methods

The test data were derived from the baseline assessment and first follow-up of the IMAGEN study, a European multicenter and multidisciplinary research project on adolescent mental health. In the present study 1004 participants were tested. The characterization of personality was conducted with the NEO-FFI at the age of 14 (T1). The data on substance use were collected with the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) questionnaire at the age of 16 (T2). For the statistical analysis, t-tests and univariate analyses of variance were performed.

Results

The scores of Conscientiousness at T1 were significantly lower for adolescents with tobacco, alcohol and cannabis experiences at T2. We found lower scores of Agreeableness at T1 in participants with tobacco and cannabis use at T2. Extraversion at T1 was significantly higher for adolescents with smoking experiences at T2. No significant associations between Neuroticism or Openness and future substance use were observed.

Conclusion

Low scores of Conscientiousness and Agreeableness seem to have the greatest value for a prediction of later experiences with substance use. As the present study is the first one to examine the predictive value of the NEO-FFI for future substance use in an adolescent sample, further studies are necessary to enable a better applicability in a clinical context.

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Acknowledgments

This work received support from the following sources: the European Union-funded FP6 Integrated Project IMAGEN (Reinforcement-related behaviour in normal brain function and psychopathology) (LSHM-CT- 2007–037286), the FP7 projects IMAGEMEND (602450; IMAgingGEnetics for MENtal Disorders) and MATRICS (603016), the Innovative Medicine Initiative Project EU-AIMS (115300–2), a Medical Research Council Programme Grant “Developmental pathways into adolescent substance abuse” (93558), the Swedish funding agency FORMAS, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust (Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF grants 01GS08152; 01EV0711; eMED SysAlc01ZX1311A;Forschungsnetz AERIAL), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grants SM 80/7-1, SM 80/7-2, SFB 940/1) and the National Institutes of Health, USA (Axon, Testosterone and Mental Health during Adolescence; RO1 MH085772-01A1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Charité Mitte, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, Germany

    Caroline Parchetka, Nicole Strache, Bianca Raffaelli, Isabel Gemmeke, Katharina Weiß, Andreas Heinz & Henrik Walter

  2. INSERM, UMR 1000, Research unit Imaging and Psychiatry, CEA, DSV, I²BM-Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay, France

    Eric Artiges, Herve Lemaitre, Jean-Luc Martinot & Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot

  3. University Paris-Sud 11, Orsay, France

    Eric Artiges, Jean-Luc Martinot & Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot

  4. University Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France

    Eric Artiges, Herve Lemaitre, Jean-Luc Martinot & Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot

  5. Psychiatry Department 91G16, Orsay Hospital, Orsay, France

    Eric Artiges

  6. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany

    Tobias Banaschewski & Luise Poustka

  7. Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Trinity College Institute of Neurosciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Arun Bokde & Robert Whelan

  8. University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Haus S10, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, Germany

    Uli Bromberg & Christian Buechel

  9. Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Patricia Conrod, Sylvane Desrivières & Gunter Schumann

  10. Department of Psychiatry, CHU Ste Justine Hospital, Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Patricia Conrod

  11. Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Square J5, Mannheim, Germany

    Herta Flor & Frauke Nees

  12. Neurospin, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, CEA-Saclay Center, Paris, France

    Vincent Frouin & Dimitri Papadopoulos

  13. Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    Hugh Garavan

  14. School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK

    Penny Gowland

  15. Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Abbestr. 2-12, Berlin, Germany

    Bernd Ittermann

  16. Faculté de médecine, Université Paris-Sud, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France

    Herve Lemaitre

  17. Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Eva Mennigen, Sarah Jurk, Michael N. Smolka & Nora C. Vetter

  18. AP-HP, Department of Adolescent Psychopathology and Medicine, Maison de Solenn, Cochin Hospital, Paris, France

    Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot

  19. Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest and Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, M6A 2E1, Ontario, Canada

    Tomáš Paus

  20. Medical Research Council-Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK

    Gunter Schumann

  21. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany

    Juergen Gallinat

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  1. Caroline Parchetka
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  2. Nicole Strache
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  13. Herta Flor
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  14. Vincent Frouin
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  15. Hugh Garavan
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  16. Penny Gowland
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  17. Andreas Heinz
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  20. Jean-Luc Martinot
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  21. Eva Mennigen
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  22. Frauke Nees
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  23. Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot
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  25. Tomáš Paus
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  26. Luise Poustka
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  27. Sarah Jurk
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  28. Michael N. Smolka
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  29. Nora C. Vetter
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  30. Henrik Walter
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  31. Robert Whelan
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  33. Juergen Gallinat
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Correspondence to Juergen Gallinat.

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Parchetka, C., Strache, N., Raffaelli, B. et al. Predictive utility of the NEO-FFI for later substance experiences among 16-year-old adolescents. J Public Health 24, 489–495 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-016-0747-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-016-0747-2

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