State impulsivity and substance use: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Abstract

The association between substance use and impulsivity has been documented extensively in the literature. More recently, there has been a shift from viewing impulsivity solely as a stable trait toward examining its moment-to-moment expression in everyday life and how these fluctuations influence substance use. Despite this growing interest, there has not yet been a comprehensive meta-analysis synthesizing findings across studies. Existing reviews have largely focused on trait-level impulsivity, which limits our understanding of how impulsivity operates across real-world contexts. The aim of this proposed meta-analysis is to integrate these findings and quantify the strength of the association between everyday impulsivity and substance use, specifically alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco use. In addition, we aim to identify key moderators of this relationship. For example, we will evaluate whether the strength of association differs by substance (e.g., alcohol vs. cannabis vs. tobacco), by sample characteristics (substance-dependent vs. community), and by methodological factors. We will search major databases (e.g., PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science) for peer-reviewed studies as well as unpublished studies reporting associations between everyday impulsivity and substance use. Random-effects models will estimate pooled effect sizes, and subgroup/meta-regression analyses will test moderators. Overall, this proposed meta-analysis aims to provide a comprehensive estimate of the association between everyday impulsivity and alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco use.