The Relation Between Stress and Impulsivity During the First Year of College

Abstract

Previous research has established that acute and chronic stress negatively impact mental health. People are thought to become more impulsive in response to stress, but there is a paucity of literature examining how stress might relate to the development of the different dimensions of impulsivity over time. The present study tests the acute and chronic associations between stress and three impulsigenic traits, negative urgency, planning, and persistence, across six months among young adults (n=366) in their first year of college. Pre-registered analyses using multilevel growth curve models revealed that higher between-person (i.e. chronic) stress was related to higher negative urgency and lower persistence, as well as a decreasing trajectory of persistence over time. Surprisingly, higher chronic stress was related to higher planning, but an effect was found only in racial and ethnic minority participants. Higher acute stress also predicted higher planning, regardless of race/ethnicity, which was contrary to hypotheses. In line with hypotheses, within-person (i.e. acute) stress was related to higher negative urgency, but was not related to persistence. Results suggest that chronic exposure to stress may be associated with some facets of impulsivity, but the effects of acute stress are more complex.