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Constructive Thinking Skills and Impulsivity Dimensions in Conduct and Substance Use Disorders: Differences and Relationships in an Adolescents’ Sample

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Abstract

Impact of conduct disorder (CD) and substance use disorder (SUD) on constructive thinking skills and impulsivity was explored. 71 offending adolescents were assessed for CD and SUD. Furthermore, the constructive thinking inventory, the immediate and delayed memory tasks and the UPPS impulsive behaviour scale were administered. Results showed that youths with CD, independently from SUD, presented higher personality impulsivity (urgency) and altered constructive thinking skills (categorical thinking and personal superstitious thinking). Furthermore, trait-impulsivity explained variation in constructive thinking skills. The implications of these results were discussed.

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Notes

  1. This subscale only appears in 2001 in the CTI manual (Epstein, 2001).

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Acknowledgments

The present study was funded by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant No. 3200B0-109827). The authors would like to thank the adolescents and the staff of the participating institutions for their kind cooperation, as well as Alexandra Jubin, Mathias Romailler, Pascal Weinguni, and Laura Udry-JØrgensen for their help in data collection.

Conflict of interest

Authors have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Service of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Sébastien Urben, Maya Suter, Sandrine Pihet, Claudio Straccia & Philippe Stéphan

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  1. Sébastien Urben
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  2. Maya Suter
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  3. Sandrine Pihet
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  4. Claudio Straccia
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  5. Philippe Stéphan
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Correspondence to Sébastien Urben.

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Urben, S., Suter, M., Pihet, S. et al. Constructive Thinking Skills and Impulsivity Dimensions in Conduct and Substance Use Disorders: Differences and Relationships in an Adolescents’ Sample. Psychiatr Q 86, 207–218 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-014-9320-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-014-9320-8

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