Reducing alcohol-related interpretive bias in negative affect situations: Using a scenario-based Cognitive Bias Modification training paradigm

Problematic alcohol use is associated with drinking alcohol to reduce negative mood states (negative reinforcement motive). Further, heavy drinking individuals tend to interpret ambiguous situations as alcohol-related (interpretive bias). The current experimental study aimed to examine the role of alcohol-related interpretive biases in negative-affect drinking. It was hypothesized that a single-session Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretation (CBM-I) training condition (compared to a sham condition) would lead to less alcohol-related interpretations of negative affect situations, and less alcohol consumption while being in a negative mood state. The most pronounced effects were expected in individuals who drink alcohol to cope with anxiety. Moderate to heavy drinking university students (N = 134) were randomly assigned to a CBM-I or a sham condition. Interpretations were assessed during and after the training session. Drinking was assessed in a lab-based drink test and one week later using a self-report measure. With respect to alcohol-related interpretative bias, this bias was weaker in the CBM-I compared to the sham condition during the training session. This effect was not moderated by coping-anxiety motives, and did not generalize to another interpretation measure. No training effects were found on drinking behavior in the lab or on self-reported daily-level use. In sum, the CBM-I training condition was associated with lower alcohol-related interpretive bias scores during training. Generalization to another interpretation measure or to drinking behavior was not observed. Future research could explore providing multiple training sessions in order to strengthen the effects of the CBM-I training

Evaluating Within-Person Change In Implicit Measures Of Alcohol Associations: Increases In Alcohol Associations Predict Increases In Drinking Risk And Vice Versa

Aims: Implicit measures of alcohol associations (i.e. measures designed to assess associations that are fast/reflexive/impulsive) have received substantial research attention. Alcohol associations related to the self (drinking identity), the effects of alcohol (alcohol excite) and appetitive inclinations (alcohol approach) have been found to predict drinking cross-sectionally and over time. A critical next step in this line of research and the goal of this study is to evaluate whether increases in the strength of these associations predict increases in drinking and vice versa. These hypotheses were tested in a sample of first- and second-year US university students: a sample selected because this time period is associated with initiation and escalation of drinking, peak levels of alcohol consumption and severe alcohol-related negative consequences. Short summary: This study's purpose was to evaluate whether increases in the strength of alcohol associations with the self (drinking identity), excitement (alcohol excite) and approach (alcohol approach) as assessed by implicit measures predicted subsequent increases in drinking risk and vice versa using a longitudinal, university student sample. Results were consistent with hypotheses. Methods: A sample of 506 students' (57% women) alcohol associations and alcohol consumption were assessed every 3 months over a 2-year period. Participants' consumption was converted to risk categories based on NIAAA's criteria: non-drinkers, low-risk drinkers and high-risk drinkers. A series of cross-lagged panel models tested whether changes in alcohol associations predicted subsequent change in drinking risk (and vice versa). Results: Across all three measures of alcohol associations, increases in the strength of alcohol associations were associated with subsequent increases in drinking risk and vice versa. Conclusion: Results from this study indicate bi-directional relationships between increases in alcohol associations (drinking identity, alcohol excite and alcohol approach) and subsequent increases in drinking risk. Intervention and prevention efforts may benefit from targeting these associations

Mood selectively moderates the implicit alcohol association-drinking relation in college student heavy episodic drinkers

Multiple studies indicate that implicit alcohol-related associations (i.e., indices of relatively fast, spontaneous processes) predict drinking. An important next step is to investigate moderators of the implicit association-drinking relationship. Mood state has been proposed as a moderator of this relationship: implicit associations have been theorized to be stronger predictors of drinking under positive mood states. From the same theoretical perspective, explicit measures (indices of relatively slow, reflective processes) have been proposed to be stronger predictors of drinking under negative mood states. The current study evaluated these hypotheses by investigating whether mood state (manipulated via exposure to a brief video clip) moderated the relations between three types of implicit alcohol-related associations (alcohol excite, alcohol approach, and drinking identity), their explicit counterparts, and drinking in a taste test that included beer and soft drinks. A sample of 152 undergraduate social drinkers (81 men; 71 women) completed baseline measures of implicit alcohol-related associations, their explicit counterparts, and typical drinking behaviors. Participants then viewed a mood-state-inducing video clip (positive, neutral, or negative), and completed the taste test. Results were mixed but generally indicated that prediction of drinking by baseline implicit alcohol excite (but not alcohol approach or drinking identity) associations was moderated by mood. Specifically, implicit alcohol excite associations were more negatively associated with drinking after viewing the sad video and more positively associated with drinking after watching the happy/neutral video. Moderation was also observed for the explicit counterpart of alcohol excite. Findings are discussed in terms of models of negative reinforcement drinking

Precision measurement of the deuteron spin structure function g1dg^{d}_{1}

We report on a high-statistics measurement of the deuteron spin structure function g[sup d][sub 1] at a beam energy of 29 GeV in the kinematic range 0.029 < x < 0.8 and 1 < Q2 < 10 (GeV/c)2. The integral Gamma [sup d][sub 1] = (integral)[sup 1][sub 0]g[sup d][sub 1]dx evaluated at fixed Q2 = 3 (GeV/c)2 gives 0.042 ± 0.003(stat) ± 0.004(syst). Combining this result with our earlier measurement of g[sup p][sub 1], we find Gamma [sup p][sub 1]- Gamma [sup n][sub 1] = 0.163 ± 0.010(stat) ± 0.016(syst), which agrees with the prediction of the Bjorken sum rule with O( alpha [sup 3][sub s]) corrections, Gamma [sup p][sub 1]- Gamma [sup n][sub 1] = 0.171 ± 0.008. We find the quark contribution to the proton helicity to be Delta q = 0.30 ± 0.06

Measurements of R=sigma_L/sigma_T for 0.03<x<0.1 and Fit to World Data

Measurements were made at SLAC of the cross section for scattering 29 GeV electrons from carbon at a laboratory angle of 4.5 degrees, corresponding to 0.03<x<0.1 and 1.3<Q^2<2.7 GeV^2. Values of R=sigma_L/sigma_T were extracted in this kinematic range by comparing these data to cross sections measured at a higher beam energy by the NMC collaboration. The results are in reasonable agreement with pQCD calculations and with extrapolations of the R1990 parameterization of previous data. A new fit is made including these data and other recent results.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, late

Change in implicit alcohol associations over time: Moderation by drinking history and gender

Implicit measures of alcohol-related associations or implicit alcohol associations are associated with drinking outcomes over time and can be understood as vulnerability markers for problem drinking. Longitudinal research remains rare, leaving open questions about how implicit alcohol associations themselves change over time and what factors moderate that change. We examined these questions with data from a larger study of first and second year U.S. college students. We investigated how these implicit alcohol associations change over time and potential moderators of those changes (gender, lifetime drinking history, family history of problem drinking, and class standing). A sample of 506 students (57% women) completed baseline demographic measures and implicit measures (variants of the Implicit Association Test [IAT]) assessing associations with drinking and the self [drinking identity], alcohol and excite [alcohol-excite], and alcohol and approach [alcohol-approach]). IATs were completed at 3-month intervals for a total of 8 assessments. Results indicated small, but significant, change in alcohol-excite and alcohol-approach IAT scores over time, and mixed findings for hypothesized moderators. Drinking history moderated change in drinking identity IAT scores, with increases over time among individuals with no history of drinking or no history of intoxication and decreases among individuals with a history of intoxication. Gender moderated change in alcohol-excite IAT scores with greater change among women (vs. men). No significant moderators of change in alcohol approach IAT scores were found. Results point to the importance of evaluating implicit associations' trajectories and identifying additional factors that predict those trajectories and concomitant vulnerability to problem drinking

Self-control and implicit drinking identity as predictors of alcohol consumption, problems, and cravings

Objective: We investigated trait and alcohol-specific self-control as unique predictors and moderators of the relation between implicit drinking identity associations and drinking. Method: Three hundred undergraduates completed a drinking identity Implicit Association Test (IAT), trait and alcohol self-control questionnaires, and alcohol consumption, problems, and cravings inventories. Results: Regression analyses tested for unique effects of predictors and for Self-Control × IAT interactions. Each predictor accounted for unique variance in consumption, but there was no evidence of moderation effects. Both types of self-control, but not IAT scores, accounted for unique variance in problems. A Trait Self-Control × Implicit Drinking interaction accounted for excess zeros in problems, with a greater likelihood of not having alcohol problems among individuals with low implicit identity who had higher versus lower trait self-control. Each predictor accounted for unique variance in cravings. A Trait Self-Control × IAT interaction was also found, indicating that implicit drinking identity was a stronger predictor of cravings among those with lower versus higher trait self-control. Conclusions: Results are partially consistent with previous research: Both types of self-control and drinking identity associations predicted unique variance in drinking, and moderation effects were observed for trait self-control and drinking identity associations and two of the three drinking variables. Findings suggest that trait and alcohol-specific self-control and implicit drinking identity could be useful intervention targets. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 75, 290-298, 2014