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Personality traits have been shown to contribute to problematic drinking; in some studies, higher extraversion, lower conscientiousness, lower agreeableness, and lower openness have predicted later greater alcohol use. However, the opposite is possible, as higher alcohol consumption in adolescents and young adults has been shown to predict higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness. To learn whether alcohol use in adults predicts later changes in personality traits, researchers pooled data on 39,722 respondents from six longitudinal surveys conducted in Germany, Australia, and the U.S. (mean age, 52; 54% women).
Analyses adjusted for baseline personality trait score, age, sex, race/ethnicity, and the length of follow-up time. The four se…