Abstract
This review describes how measures of a prominent three-dimensional hierarchical model of personality traits relate to substance use. H. J. Eysenck proposed a biologically based model of personality that gave rise to related models such as those of J. A. Gray, C. R. Cloninger, and M. Zuckerman. The varying role of impulsivity—a trait related to disinhibition, approach motivation, novelty seeking, and sensation seeking—in successive self-report measures of this model, including the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), is described. It is argued that certain findings in experimental, cross-sectional, and longitudinal research using these measures point to the importance of impulsivity as a temperamental vulnerability factor for substance use.