AIMS: The effects of university students' habitual drinking practices and experimental alcohol cue exposure on their attentional bias for alcohol-related stimuli were assessed. METHODS: Participants were exposed in vivo to either an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage immediately prior to completing a cognitively demanding emotional Stroop task that uses alcohol-related and control words as potential distractors. RESULTS: Regression analyses indicated that, for participants who were low consumers of alcohol, neither level of habitual drinking, type of cue exposure, nor their interaction predicted attentional bias for the alcohol-related stimuli. For high consumers of alcohol who were exposed to the alcoholic beverage (but not those exposed to the non-alcoholic beverage), the amount of alcohol that participants habitually drank significantly predicted the degree of attentional bias. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that, among non-dependent drinkers (unlike alcohol-dependent participants), alcohol-related attentional bias is not a generalized phenomenon, but occurs only under a specific set of circumstances.
AIMS: The effects of university students' habitual drinking practices and experimental alcohol cue exposure on their attentional bias for alcohol-related stimuli were assessed. METHODS:Participants were exposed in vivo to either an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage immediately prior to completing a cognitively demanding emotional Stroop task that uses alcohol-related and control words as potential distractors. RESULTS: Regression analyses indicated that, for participants who were low consumers of alcohol, neither level of habitual drinking, type of cue exposure, nor their interaction predicted attentional bias for the alcohol-related stimuli. For high consumers of alcohol who were exposed to the alcoholic beverage (but not those exposed to the non-alcoholic beverage), the amount of alcohol that participants habitually drank significantly predicted the degree of attentional bias. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that, among non-dependent drinkers (unlike alcohol-dependent participants), alcohol-related attentional bias is not a generalized phenomenon, but occurs only under a specific set of circumstances.
Authors: Catharine Montgomery; Matt Field; Amanda M Atkinson; Jon C Cole; Andrew J Goudie; Harry R Sumnall Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2010-03-30 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Graham W Redgrave; Arnold Bakker; Nicholas T Bello; Brian S Caffo; Janelle W Coughlin; Angela S Guarda; Julie E McEntee; James J Pekar; Shauna P Reinblatt; Guillermo Verduzco; Timothy H Moran Journal: Neuroreport Date: 2008-08-06 Impact factor: 1.837