Jail Inmates’ Self-Control and Post-Release Substance Misuse Project Summary Decades of research have repeatedly linked deficits in self-control to substance misuse and criminal behavior. Theory and research across fields have historically treated self-control as a unitary dimension. However, recent theoretical and empirical developments suggest two distinct components of self-control exist – inhibitory self-control and initiatory/persistent self-control (de Ridder, et al., 2011; Hoyle & Davisson, 2016). Succinctly, self-control by inhibition is to not do something – to override impulses toward attractive but goal-inconsistent behaviors. Self-control by initiation/persistence is required to do something – to engage in and persist at goal- consistent behaviors, despite a pull toward inaction due to setbacks or barriers. The proposed project will examine whether there are advantages in decomposing self-control. Results would set the stage for developing more targeted and effective self-control interventions in a high-risk, underserved population. Drawing on two longitudinal data sets of inmates followed up to 10 years (n=508) and 3 years (n=213) post- release, the proposed project will address the following questions: (1) Do the two components of self-control – inhibitory self-control and initiatory/persistent self-control – differentially predict post-release substance misuse, crime, and positive community adjustment? (2) What is the causal nature of the link between self-control and substance misuse? I will examine whether changes in particular forms of self-control lead to changes in substance misuse, vice versa, or both? (3) How, and for whom, do the components of self-control change during incarceration and post-release? (4) To what degree do these findings generalize across race and gender? Results will serve as the foundation for developing more targeted domain-specific self-control interventions and for prioritizing specific treatments to individualized self-control needs and post-release challenges (e.g., risk areas hinging on inhibitory vs. initiatory/persistent self-control or both).