Sensation seeking and alcohol use: A meta-analytic review

A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the association between sensation seeking and alcohol use. Analysis of 61 studies revealed a small to moderate size, heterogeneous effect (mean weighted r = .263) between alcohol use and sensation seeking total scale scores. Analysis of the four sensation seeking components indicated that disinhibition was most strongly correlated with alcohol use (mean weighted r = .368). Categorical moderator analyses revealed that studies that did, versus did not, analyze covariates yielded smaller effect sizes. Continuous moderator analyses indicated that earlier published studies and higher percentages of male and white Caucasian participants were associated with stronger effect sizes between sensation seeking and alcohol use. Novel statistical methodologies for analyzing the association between sensation seeking and alcohol use were proposed and recommendations for future research were suggested.