Relationships between sensation seeking and use of caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes by New Zealand university students

Form V of Zuckerman's Senation-Seeking Scale (SSS) was completed by a sample of psychology undergraduate students along with a questionnaire relating to their regular consumption of caffeinated and alcoholic beverages, and use of cigarettes. While there were no gender differences in the use of caffeine and cigarettes, men reported consuming nearly twice as much alcohol per week as women. Use of alcohol (but not caffeine or cigarettes) was positively related to sensation seeking in the form of thrill and adventure seeking, and boredom susceptibility for men, and disinhibition for both genders. Women generally achieved lower SSS scores than men. For both genders, caffeine use was positively related to cigarette, but not alcohol use. There were no relationships between the use of cigarettes and alcohol.