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The benefits of using the UPPS model of impulsivity rather than the Big Five when assessing the relationship between personality and problem gambling

Authors:
Natale Canale at University of Padua
Natale Canale
Alessio Vieno at University of Padua
Alessio Vieno
Henrietta Bowden-Jones at University of Cambridge
Henrietta Bowden-Jones
Joel Billieux at University of Lausanne
Joel Billieux
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5. Landon J., Lobstein T., Godfrey F., Johns P., Brookes C., Jernigan D.
International codes and agreements to restrict the promotion
of harmful products can hold lessons for the control of alcohol
marketing. Addiction 2016; DOI: 10.1111/add.13545.
6. Mitchell A. D., Casben J. For Debate—Trade law and alcohol
regulation: what role for a global alcohol marketing code?
Addiction 2016; DOI:10.1111/add.13606.
THE BENEFITS OF USING THE UPPS MODEL OF
IMPULSIVITY RATHER THAN THE BIG FIVE
WHEN ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN PERSONALITY AND PROBLEM
GAMBLING
Brunborg et al.’srecentpaper[1]focusesontherelevance
of personality factors associated with problem gambling
(PG) in a study in which personality traits were examined
along with subclinical gambling problems in a large-scale
epidemiological sample. The study offers new insights into
specific personality traits associated with PG, namely high
neuroticism and low conscientiousness [1]. If these traits
are indeed the most relevant personalitydimensions linked
to PG, then in our communication we would like to suggest
using the UPPS model of impulsivity [2] as a more suitable
framework to help us understand the relationship between
personality and PG, rather than the Big Five model [3].
Based on the UPPS model [2,4], impulsivity is an
umbrella construct reflected by four distinct dimensions:
(i) negative urgency, defined as the tendency to act rashly
while faced with intense negative emotional contexts
(emotion-laden impulsivity); (ii) premeditation, defined as
the tendency to take into account the consequences of an
act before engaging in that act; (iii) perseverance, defined
as the ability to remain focused on a task that may be
boring and/or difficult; and (iv) sensation-seeking,
considered as a tendency to enjoy and pursue activities
that are exciting and openness to trying new experiences.
In relation to the arguments developed in the current
letter, it is important to emphasize that each factor has
an analogue among the facets of the Big Five personality
traits.
Negative urgency is related strongly to neuroticism
(and not to conscientiousness, as stated erroneously by
Brunborg et al. [1]). Furthermore, according to Settles
et al. [5], negative urgency explains variance in exter-
nalizing behaviours beyond that accounted for by other
personality factors that correlate strongly with
neuroticism. Moreover, it has been shown that urgency is
the impulsivity facet that distinguishes more strongly
between treatment-seeking pathological gamblers and
matched control participants [6]. However, in comparison
to neuroticism, negative urgency is a narrower construct
that has been linked to specific executive and affective
mechanisms (e.g. poor pre-potent response inhibition,
heightened emotion reactivity) [7,8], allowing the
development of more focused prevention and treatment
strategies [9].
Premeditation and perseverance relate, respectively, to
the ‘deliberation’and ‘self-discipline’facets of conscien-
tiousness. These two UPPS components rely upon distinct
underlying mechanisms [10], which are not linked identi-
cally to PG [11]. In fact, the lack of premeditation has been
associated with poor decision-making abilities, which is an
established hallmark of PG [12,13], whereas the lack of
perseverance has been linked rather to attentional
processes that are not necessary altered in PG. Accordingly,
it is not surprising that low premeditation (but not low
perseverance) is elevated in PG. It is thus likely that
screening tools able to distinguish between premeditation
and perseverance are more relevant in relation to the
prevention and treatment of PG than measures capturing
only a broad and multi-determined construct of conscien-
tiousness (such as the one used in Brunborg et al.[1]).
Finally, the construct of sensation-seeking (as measured
by the UPPS) is probably more relevant in relation to PG
than the broader construct of extraversion (measured by
the Big Five and unrelated to PG in Brunborg et al.[1]).
Indeed, although linked inconsistently to PG per se,a
heightened level of sensation-seeking has been associated
consistently with certain gambling preferences (e.g.
gambling frequency, favoured types of games) [14,15],
and thus constitutes relevant information when tailoring
prevention efforts in gamblers (for example, in relation to
specificgametypes).
Declaration of interests
None.
Keywords Gambling, impulsivity, personality,
treatment, UPPS, urgency.
NATALE CANALE
1
,ALESSIOVIENO
1
,
HENRIETTA BOWDEN-JONES
2
& JOËL BILLIEUX
3
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of
Padova, Padova, Italy
1
National Problem Gambling Clinic, London,
UK
2
and Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological
Science Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain,
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
3
E-mail: natale.canale@unipd.it
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© 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction Addiction,112,370–373
Letters to the Editor 373
... Impulsivity can be defined as the tendency to engage rapidly in a behavior without appropriately considering the potential negatives consequences of the behavior 10 . Among the different models used to assess impulsivityrelated constructs, we chose to focus here on the UPPS-P model developed by Whiteside and Lynam 11 and revised by Cyders and Smith 12 because it considers impulsivity as a multidimensional construct, because it has demonstrated its clinical relevance in persons with addictive disorders 13,14 and because it assesses specifically emotion-related impulsivity, a core risk factors for addictive disorders and externalizing behaviors 15,16 . According to these authors Whiteside and Lynam 11 and Cyders and Smith 12 , impulsivity can be described as a multidimensional personality trait that comprises five different interrelated traits: positive urgency (i.e., tendency to act rashly in response to intensely positive emotional states), negative urgency (i.e., tendency to act rashly when distressed), sensation seeking (i.e., tendency to seek sensory pleasure, excitement and novel experiences), lack of premeditation (i.e., tendency to act without forethought) and lack of perseverance (i.e., inability to remain focused on a task and to quit when a task becomes difficult or boring). ...
... According to these authors Whiteside and Lynam 11 and Cyders and Smith 12 , impulsivity can be described as a multidimensional personality trait that comprises five different interrelated traits: positive urgency (i.e., tendency to act rashly in response to intensely positive emotional states), negative urgency (i.e., tendency to act rashly when distressed), sensation seeking (i.e., tendency to seek sensory pleasure, excitement and novel experiences), lack of premeditation (i.e., tendency to act without forethought) and lack of perseverance (i.e., inability to remain focused on a task and to quit when a task becomes difficult or boring). These five impulsivity facets can be assessed using the validated UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale that is extensively used in patients with addictive disorders, including tobacco 9,13,16 . According to some authors, the UPPS-P has the potential to characterize the influence of these distinct aspects of impulsivity on addictive behaviors 17 . ...
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  • Jul 2009
The purpose of this study was to study the sensation seeking personality trait in two groups of French pathological gamblers: one group who play games available in cafés (n = 57) and one group who bet on horses at the racetrack (n = 42). Sensation seeking was measured with the Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale; intensity of gambling behavior with the South Oaks Gambling Screen and the DSM-IV criteria of pathological gambling. Pathological gamblers who bet at the racetracks had significantly higher scores on Sensation Seeking than those who play games available in cafés. These findings are consistent with the idea of identifying clinically distinct subgroups of gamblers essential in the treatment pathological gambling. One subtype is made of those who play “active” games who gamble for the arousal produced by the game. The second subtype would be one made up of those who play “passive” games who gamble to avoid unpleasant emotional states.
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