Sensation seeking, reinforcement, and student drug use

Abstract

College student volunteers completed the Sensation Seeking Scale, a drug use survey, and provided demographic information. Subjects were also asked to generate a list of the events that they found most reinforcing (Reinforcer List). Drug use was positively related to scores on all subscales of the Sensation Seeking Scale. Although neither drug use nor sensation seeking scores were related to the total number of items generated on the Reinforcer List, drug users did generate a higher percentage of items rated as high sensation producing items, and percent high sensation reinforcers was correlated with scores on the Sensation Seeking Scale. These results illustrate the importance of the sensation seeking motive as a correlate of student drug use.