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

Alcohol homograph priming in alcohol-dependent inpatients

Item does not contain fulltextAim: Alcohol dependency is characterized by alcohol-related interpretation biases (IBs): Individuals with high levels of alcohol consumption generate more alcohol-related than alcohol-unrelated interpretations in response to ambiguous alcohol-related cues. However, a response bias could be an alternative account, meaning that individuals with high levels of alcohol consumption generate more alcohol-related IBs because of a greater baseline tendency to endorse alcohol-related responses. Methods: To test this alternative explanation, the present study employed a homograph-priming task, reliability of which was also examined. The sample included 577 clinically diagnosed alcohol-dependent inpatients and 61 control inpatients. Participants completed a homograph priming task (primes: homographs with and without an alcohol-related meaning, target words: alcohol and soft drinks) before commencing their behavioral cognitive treatment at a rehabilitation clinic. Results: Contrary to our expectations, we did not find an enhanced priming effect in alcohol-dependent inpatients. Moreover, there was no correlation between the priming score and levels of harmful drinking (AUDIT scores). Conclusions: The data provide limited support for the existence of alcohol-related IBs, possibly because of the low reliability of the priming task, the features of the task, and the study’s design.8 p

Dysfunctional automatic associations and interpretations in psychopathology

Contains fulltext : 126849.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 07 mei 2014Promotor : Becker, E.S. Co-promotor : Rinck, M.270 p

Mit dem Joystick gegen die Abhängigkeit: Computergestützte Trainings zur Rückfallprävention

Item does not contain fulltextAlkoholabhängigkeit ist ein paradoxes Phänomen: Obwohl alkoholabhängigen Menschen die Schädlichkeit ihres Konsums bewusst ist und sie oft eine echte Abneigung gegenüber der Substanz verspüren, greifen sie dennoch wieder zum Alkohol. Darüber hinaus kommt es auch nach längerer Trockenphase oft vor, dass Abstinenzler rückfällig werden. Dieses Phänomen hat in den letzten Jahren bei Forschern großes Interesse geweckt, und so begann man zu untersuchen, welche Faktoren und Prozesse dieses kontraintuitive Verhalten erklären könnten.6 p

"There is this strange feeling: Oh no, another panic attack!": A case study in panic disorder

The case of Susan, a kindergarten teacher who developed panic disorder as well as a mild agoraphobia after a bad case of flue, is presented. She exhibited some of the typical misinterpretations of panic disorder patients, interpreting bodily symptoms as signs of imminent danger. But, there were also some underlying dysfunctional beliefs that maintained the disorder and challenged treatment. Exposure was chosen as the main intervention, with the goal of changing the catastrophic interpretations. Special emphasis was given on the motivation and the cognitive rational preparing for the exposure. Interoceptive exposure was utilized to target the panic attacks, often in form of behavioral experiments in combination with cognitive restructuring. The agoraphobia was target with in vivo exposure, but initially did not show the hoped-for effects, due to ingrained safety behaviors. For relapse prevention underlying beliefs were targeted with cognitive therapy. At the end of the treatment, Susan experienced significant improvements, i.e., both the panic attacks and agoraphobic behaviors had vanished and she was able to enjoy life again

Impliciete mentale processen

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Induction of implicit evaluation biases by approach avoidance training: A commentary on Vandenbosch and De Houwer

Item does not contain fulltextVandenbosch and De Houwer (this issue) reported a series of failures to induce an implicit evaluation bias by means of an approach–avoidance training paradigm. In this commentary, we point out issues raised by Vandenbosch and De Houwer that we interpret differently or that we would like to emphasise more thoroughly. In addition, we report recent results from a replication study from our lab in which we found the effects in question. Finally, we provide an overview of potential future studies needed to replicate and validate the approach–avoidance training effects.8 p

The manipulation of alcohol-related interpretation biases by means of Cognitive Bias Modification - Interpretation (CBM-I)

Item does not contain fulltextBackground and objectives: There is a large body of evidence demonstrating that alcohol abuse and misuse is characterized by alcohol-related interpretation biases (IBs). The present study tested whether alcohol-related IBs can be trained, and whether this has an effect on alcohol-related associations and drinking behavior. A newly developed alcohol Cognitive Bias Modification Interpretation (CBM-I) training was employed. The potential moderating effect of executive control on CBM-I training effects was tested. Method: Participants were hazardously male drinking students. A classical Stroop was used to assess levels of executive control. Half of the sample was trained to interpret ambiguous alcohol-related scenarios in an alcohol-related manner (alcohol training group), whereas the other half was trained to interpret ambiguous alcohol-related scenarios in a neutral manner (neutral training group). A Single Target Implicit Association Test (STIAT) was used to test whether the training would generalize to implicit alcohol-related associations (target words: alcohol, attributes: positive vs. neutral). To test the training's effect on drinking behavior, a bogus taste test and a one week follow-up measure assessing participant's real life drinking behavior were used. Results: The CBM-I training was partly successful: When presented with novel ambiguous alcohol-related scenarios, participants of the alcohol training group interpreted these scenarios as more alcohol-related after the training. However, there was no reduction in alcohol-related IBs in the neutral training group. Results of the STIAT demonstrated that both training groups showed stronger positive than neutral alcohol-related associations. However, there were no between-group differences in alcohol-related associations. Moreover, the CBM-I training's effect was not moderated by levels of executive control. Finally, no group differences were found on levels of alcohol consumption (bogus taste test and at one week follow-up). Limitations: The neutral training might have been operationalized sub-optimally. A multi-session training might have resulted in stronger effects. Conclusions: These findings are the first to show that alcohol-related IBs can be trained. However, the training effect only partly generalized so more research is needed to advance our understanding of alcohol CBM-I effects

The relationship between drinking motives and alcohol-related interpretation biases

Item does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Numerous studies have investigated drinking motives and alcohol-related interpretation biases (IBs) separately. However, less is known about the relationship between them. Therefore, the present study examined whether coping and enhancement drinking motives were specifically related to negative and positive alcohol-related IBs, respectively. Furthermore, it was investigated whether such biases predict future drinking, especially in individuals with low levels of executive control (EC). METHODS: Participants were male and female university students. The Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R; Cooper, 1994) was administered to measure participants' drinking motives. To measure alcohol-related IBs, an adapted version of the Encoding Recognition Task (ERT) was used. During the ERT, participants were asked to read ambiguous alcohol-related scenarios. In a subsequent recognition phase, participants interpreted these scenarios. A classical Stroop was applied to assess levels of EC. RESULTS: Coping motives but not enhancement motives were a unique predictor of the tendency to interpret negatively valenced ambiguous alcohol-relevant situations in an alcohol-related manner. This relationship was significant even when controlling for other relevant predictors. Neither coping nor enhancement motives were predictive of positive alcohol-related IBs. Concerning the prediction of prospective drinking, results showed that particularly the negative alcohol-related IB predicted prospective drinking. However, EC did not moderate the prediction of prospective drinking by either positive or negative interpretation biases. LIMITATIONS: The alcohol-ERT might not be the most optimal paradigm for assessing implicit alcohol-related IBs. CONCLUSIONS: The present results emphasize the role of negative affect in the context of drinking motives and alcohol-related IBs. Follow-up studies are needed to test the robustness of these findings, and to further explore the general interplay between drinking motives and alcohol-related IBs