Learning to dislike alcohol: conditioning negative implicit attitudes toward alcohol and its effect on drinking behavior

Rationale: Since implicit attitudes toward alcohol play an important role in drinking behavior, a possible way to obtain a behavioral change is changing these implicit attitudes. Objectives: This study examined whether a change in implicit attitudes and in drinking behavior can be achieved via evaluative conditioning. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition and a control condition. In the experimental condition, participants were subjected to an evaluative conditioning procedure that consistently pairs alcohol-related cues with negative stimuli. In the control condition, alcohol-related cues were consistently paired with neutral stimuli during the evaluative conditioning phase. Implicit attitudes, explicit attitudes, and drinking behavior were measured before and after the evaluative conditioning phase. Results: Following the evaluative conditioning procedure, participants in the experimental condition showed stronger negative implicit attitudes toward alcohol and consumed less alcohol compared to participants in the control condition. However, this effect was only found when the evaluative conditioning task paired alcohol-related cues with general negative pictures, but not when using pictures of frowning faces. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that evaluative conditioning can effectively change implicit attitudes toward alcohol and also suggest that this procedure can be used to change drinking behavior. Hence, evaluative conditioning may be a useful new intervention tool to combat alcohol misuse

The dopamine D2 receptor mediates approach-avoidance tendencies in smokers

Dopamine D2 receptors (DRD2) have been strongly implicated in reward processing of natural stimuli and drugs. By using the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT), we recently demonstrated that smokers show an increased approach bias toward smoking-related cues but not toward naturally-rewarding stimuli. Here we examined the contribution of the DRD2 Taq1B polymorphism to smokers’ and non-smokers’ responsivity toward smoking versus naturally-rewarding stimuli in the AAT. Smokers carrying the minor B1 allele of the DRD2 Taq1B polymorphism showed reduced approach behavior for food-related pictures compared to non-smokers with the same allele. In the group of smokers, a higher approach-bias toward smoking-related compared to food-related pictures was found in carriers of the B1 allele. This pattern was not evident in smokers homozygous for the B2 allele. Additionally, smokers with the B1 allele reported fewer attempts to quit smoking relative to smokers homozygous for the B2 allele. This is the first study demonstrating that behavioral shifts in response to smoking relative to natural rewards in smokers are mediated by the DRD2 Taq1B polymorphism. Our results indicate a reduced natural-reward brain reactivity in smokers with a genetically determined decrease in dopaminergic activity (i.e., reduction of DRD2 availability). It remains to be determined whether this pattern might be related to a different outcome after psychological cessation interventions, i.e. AAT modification paradigms, in smokers

Approach and Avoidance Tendencies in Spider Fearful Children: The Approach-Avoidance Task

Fear in children is associated with the tendency to avoid situations related to the fear. In this study, the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) was evaluated as a test of automatic behavioral avoidance tendencies in children. A sample of 195 children aged between 9 and 12 years completed an AAT, a Behavioral Assessment Task (BAT), and two spider fear questionnaires. The results indicate that all children showed an automatic avoidance tendency in response to spider pictures, but not pictures of butterflies or neutral pictures. Girls who reported more fear of spiders on the self-reports and behaved more anxiously during the BAT also showed a greater avoidance tendency in the AAT. These relationships were absent in boys

Evaluating a selective prevention programme for binge drinking among young adolescents: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Contains fulltext : 99319.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Background In comparison to other Europe countries, Dutch adolescents are at the top in drinking frequency and binge drinking. A total of 75% of the Dutch 12 to 16 year olds who drink alcohol also engage in binge drinking. A prevention programme called Preventure was developed in Canada to prevent adolescents from binge drinking. This article describes a study that aims to assess the effects of this selective school-based prevention programme in the Netherlands. Methods A randomized controlled trial is being conducted among 13 to 15-year-old adolescents in secondary schools. Schools were randomly assigned to the intervention and control conditions. The intervention condition consisted of two 90 minute group sessions, carried out at the participants' schools and provided by a qualified counsellor and a co-facilitator. The intervention targeted young adolescents who demonstrated personality risk for alcohol abuse. The group sessions were adapted to four personality profiles. The control condition received no further intervention above the standard substance use education sessions provided in the Dutch national curriculum. The primary outcomes will be the percentage reduction in binge drinking, weekly drinking and drinking-related problems after three specified time periods. A screening survey collected data by means of an Internet questionnaire. Students have completed, or will complete, a post-treatment survey after 2, 6, and 12 months, also by means of an online questionnaire. Discussion This study protocol presents the design and current implementation of a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a selective alcohol prevention programme. We expect that a significantly lower number of adolescents will binge drink, drink weekly, and have drinking-related problems in the intervention condition compared to the control condition, as a result of this intervention.9 p

Are psychotic-like experiences related to a discontinuation of cannabis consumption in young adults?

Objective: To assess changes in cannabis use in young adults as a function of psychotic-like experiences. Method: Participants were initially recruited at age 14 in high schools for the longitudinal IMAGEN study. All measures presented here were assessed at follow-ups at age 19 and at age 22, respectively. Perceived stress was only assessed once at age 22. Ever users of cannabis (N = 552) gave qualitative and quantitative information on cannabis use and psychotic-like experiences using the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE). Of those, nearly all n = 549 reported to have experienced at least one psychotic experience of any form at age 19. Results: Mean cannabis use increased from age 19 to 22 and age of first use of cannabis was positively associated with a change in cannabis use between the two time points. Change in cannabis use was not significantly associated with psychotic-like experiences at age 19 or 22. In exploratory analysis, we observed a positive association between perceived stress and the experience of psychotic experiences at age 22. Conclusion: Age of first use of cannabis influenced trajectories of young cannabis users with later onset leading to higher increase, whereas the frequency of psychotic-like experiences was not associated with a change in cannabis use. The observed association between perceived stress and psychotic-like experiences at age 22 emphasizes the importance of stress experiences in developing psychosis independent of cannabis use

Relapse prevention for addictive behaviors

The Relapse Prevention (RP) model has been a mainstay of addictions theory and treatment since its introduction three decades ago. This paper provides an overview and update of RP for addictive behaviors with a focus on developments over the last decade (2000-2010). Major treatment outcome studies and meta-analyses are summarized, as are selected empirical findings relevant to the tenets of the RP model. Notable advances in RP in the last decade include the introduction of a reformulated cognitive-behavioral model of relapse, the application of advanced statistical methods to model relapse in large randomized trials, and the development of mindfulness-based relapse prevention. We also review the emergent literature on genetic correlates of relapse following pharmacological and behavioral treatments. The continued influence of RP is evidenced by its integration in most cognitive-behavioral substance use interventions. However, the tendency to subsume RP within other treatment modalities has posed a barrier to systematic evaluation of the RP model. Overall, RP remains an influential cognitive-behavioral framework that can inform both theoretical and clinical approaches to understanding and facilitating behavior change

Best research practices for using the Implicit Association Test

This is the final version. Available from Springer via the DOI in this record. Interest in unintended discrimination that can result from implicit attitudes and stereotypes (implicit biases) has stimulated many research investigations. Much of this research has used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure association strengths that are presumed to underlie implicit biases. It had been more than a decade since the last published treatment of recommended best practices for research using IAT measures. After an initial draft by the first author, and continuing through three subsequent drafts, the 22 authors and 14 commenters contributed extensively to refining the selection and description of recommendation-worthy research practices. Individual judgments of agreement or disagreement were provided by 29 of the 36 authors and commenters. Of the 21 recommended practices for conducting research with IAT measures presented in this article, all but two were endorsed by 90% or more of those who felt knowledgeable enough to express agreement or disagreement; only 4% of the totality of judgments expressed disagreement. For two practices that were retained despite more than two judgments of disagreement (four for one, five for the other), the bases for those disagreements are described in presenting the recommendations. The article additionally provides recommendations for how to report procedures of IAT measures in empirical articles.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Alcohol devaluation has dissociable effects on distinct components of alcohol behaviour

Rationale Substance-related behaviour is often viewed as an appetitive behaviour, motivated by the reinforcing effects of the drug. However, there are various indices of substance motivation (e.g. attentional bias, behavioural economic demand, craving) and it is unclear how these are related or whether they play an important role in all types of substance-related behaviour. Objectives (1) To determine the effect of alcohol devaluation on several indices of alcohol motivation and goal-directed and cue-elicited alcohol behaviour. (2) To investigate which components of motivation mediate any effect of devaluation on behaviour. Methods Sixty-two social drinkers gave baseline measures of alcohol craving, behavioural economic demand and choice for alcohol vs. soft drink. Participants tasted alcohol which was either unadulterated (control) or adulterated with a bitter solution (devaluation) before craving and demand were measured again. Alcohol choice was assessed in several phases: extinction (evaluating goal-directed behaviour), in the presence of drink cues (Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT, cue-elicited behaviour)), and reacquisition. Attentional bias (AB) was measured by tracking eye movements towards the drink cues during novel PIT trials where both cues were presented. Finally, consumption was evaluated in a taste test. Results Alcohol devaluation reduced alcohol-related demand, AB, alcohol choice in all phases, and consumption. Alcohol cues presented during PIT increased alcohol choice above baseline irrespective of devaluation. AB and demand for alcohol fully mediated the effect of devaluation on alcohol choice during extinction, AB fully mediated the effect on cue-elicited (specific PIT) alcohol choice and alcohol consumption. Conclusions Alcohol behaviour in social drinkers is largely sensitive to devaluation, i.e. governed by current motivational value of the drug (suggesting goal-directed behaviour). However, a dissociable form of stimulus control can also drive alcohol-seeking independently of drug value (specific PIT). Mediation analyses suggests that AB may play a paradoxical role in both forms of alcohol seeking and consumption