Abstract
•Genetic influences uniting impulsivity facets strongly related to goal management.•Unique genetic and environmental influences on all facets lead to separability.•Sensation seeking was entirely genetically distinct from other impulsivity facets.•Urgency was more strongly related to psychopathology than lack of premeditation.•Lack of perseverance was more similar to urgency than lack of premeditation.
In this study, we characterized the genetic/environmental commonality and heterogeneity of impulsivity facets and tested the hypothesis that goal-management is central to their common variance. 764 young-adult twins completed the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale and measures of goal management, personality, and psychopathology. We found common genetic influences across all impulsivity facets except sensation seeking. These impulsivity genetic influences explained 40.0% of variance in goal-management ability. Other results supported three hypotheses concerning heterogeneity: that sensation seeking is independent of other facets, that urgency is more related to psychopathology than lack of premeditation, and that lack of perseverance is more similar to urgency than lack of premeditation. Thus, impulsivity facets show considerable heterogeneity in addition to common variation related to goal-management abilities.
