Alcohol\u27s Effects on Human Emotions: A Review of the Stimulation/Depression Hypothesis

Recent hypotheses hold that acute alcohol consumption sequentially stimulates and then depresses (stimulation/depression) the drinker\u27s emotional state as well as other physiological and non-mood-related behavioral functions. This paper traces the development of the stimulation/depression hypothesis as applied to human emotions and critically evaluates investigations of alcohol\u27s acute emotional effects in order to assess its validity. Although some evidence suggests an elatant (i.e., stimulant) effect of alcohol at moderate intoxication levels, particularly on the rising limb of the blood alcohol curve, it is concluded that because of methodological inadequacies in the relevant experimental literature, the stimulation/depression hypothesis as applied to emotions remains largely untested. Conceptual and methodological refinements necessary for testing the hypothesis are discussed, and potentially important nonpharmacological factors that may also influence postconsumption mood changes are identified

Behavioral economics of substance use: Understanding and reducing harmful use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Health Significance: Physical distancing practices necessary to address the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in economic recession and unprecedented reductions in rewarding activities that compete with substance use. Behavioral economics predicts that the heightened constraints on rewarding substance-free activities, coupled with increases in uncertainty and stress, will increase harmful substance use, disproportionately affecting individuals already struggling with addiction and those from disadvantaged populations. By increasing the perceived cost of substance use and increasing the availability of substance-free activities, including treatment, anticipated increases in harmful substance use during the pandemic can be reduced. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved

Alcohol consumption as a self-handicapping strategy.

Two experiments evaluated the self-handicapping hypothesis that alcohol consumption varies directly with individuals\u27 uncertainty of their ability to perform successfully. In a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design, Experiment 1 manipulated (a) difficulty of an initial intellectual test (insolvable or solvable), (b) feedback regarding test performance (success or none), and (c) instructions regarding the difficult of a retest (identical to or harder than the initial test). Ninety-six male normal drinkers then received access to an alcoholic beverage (self-handicapping option) and to study materials (performance-enhancing option). The experiment terminated before the retest. Results indicated that when a performance enhancing option is available, subjects generally do not use alcohol to self-handicap, Experiment 2 omitted the study option and manipulated the test difficulty and retest instruction variables in a 2 X 2 factorial design. All 32 subjects received success feedback. Results showed that subjects use alcohol to self-handicap when denied access to a performance-enhancing option. With important qualifications, these data support the self-handicapping hypothesis of human drinking behavior

Differential Discriminative Stimulus Control of Nonalcoholic Beverage Consumption in Alcoholics and In Normal Drinkers

Investigated the validity of applying the internality–externality model of obesity to conceptualize the determinants of drinking behavior. 30 alcoholics and 30 normal drinkers (male prison inmates) consumed either a liquid, a food, or nothing (no preload) and then received free access to preferred and nonpreferred nonalcoholic beverages under the guise of a taste-rating task. Alcoholics were predicted to consume proportionally more of their preferred beverage (external cue hypothesis) and to be less affected by the liquid preload manipulation (internal cue hypothesis) than normal drinkers. Both alcoholics and normal drinkers also were expected to consume less beverage after a food preload than after no preload. Results support the external and internal cue hypotheses but not the food preload prediction. Although differences apparently exist between the way internal and external discriminative stimuli govern eating behavior and drinking behavior, these results generally attest to the viability of applying such a model to conceptualize the determinants of nonalcoholic beverage consumption. This conceptualization has implications for the development of treatments that address the alcoholic\u27s demonstrated vulnerability to external drink-related stimuli and lack of responsivity to internal stimuli

Alcohol, Expectancy, Cognitive Labeling and Mirth

Investigated the role of alcohol, expectancy, and cognitive labeling in producing positive emotional changes following moderate alcohol consumption. In a 2–3 factorial design, 96 male normal drinkers (undergraduates) were (a) given either an alcoholic (.45 g ethanol/kg) or a nonalcoholic beverage, (b) instructed that they were receiving either an alcoholic or a nonalcoholic beverage, and (c) either informed or not informed of common physical sensations that result from a moderate dose of alcohol. Ss were then exposed to humorous stimuli, and their laughter and self-reports of mood were measured. Hypotheses based on extensions to alcohol intoxication of the cognitive-attributional components of S. Schachter\u27s (1964) theory of emotion were not supported. Although both instructing Ss that they had received alcohol and actually administering alcohol increased Ss\u27 reports of positive affect, only the beverage content instruction influenced Ss\u27 laughter. Implications for current conceptualizations of the emotional and behavioral effects of alcohol consumption are discussed