Aims

To support the free and open dissemination of research findings and information on alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. To encourage open access to peer-reviewed articles free for all to view.

For full versions of posted research articles readers are encouraged to email requests for "electronic reprints" (text file, PDF files, FAX copies) to the corresponding or lead author, who is highlighted in the posting.

___________________________________________

Monday, February 6, 2012

Beer à No-Go: Learning to stop responding to alcohol cues reduces alcohol intake via reduced affective associations rather than increased response inh



Previous research showed that consistently not responding to alcohol-related stimuli in a Go/No-Go training reduces drinking behavior. This study aimed to further examine the mechanisms underlying this Go/No-Go training effect.

Fifty-seven heavy drinkers were randomly assigned to two training conditions: In the beer/no-go condition, alcohol-related stimuli were always paired with a stopping response, while in the beer/go condition, participants always responded to alcohol-related stimuli. Participants were individually tested in a laboratory at Maastricht University.

Weekly alcohol intake, implicit attitudes toward beer, approach-avoidance action tendencies toward beer, and response inhibition were measured before and after the training.

Results showed a significant reduction in both implicit attitudes (p= .03) and alcohol intake (p= .02) in the beer/no-go condition, but not in the beer/go condition. There were no significant training effects on action tendencies or response inhibition.

Repeatedly stopping prepotent responses toward alcohol-related stimuli effectively reduces excessive alcohol use via a devaluation of alcohol-related stimuli rather than via increased inhibitory control over alcohol-related responses.



Read Full Abstract


Request Reprint E-Mail: K.Houben@maastrichtuniversity.nl