Effects of Alcohol Cues on Craving and Ad Libitum Alcohol Consumption in Social Drinkers: The Role of Disinhibition

• DOI: 10.5127/jep.031912
• Publication Date: 2013-07-21T14:09:46Z
• Authors: Andrew Jones; Abigail K. Rose; Jon Cole; Matt Field
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine

Alcohol cues increase physiological arousal, subjective craving and alcohol consumption. These effects may be mediated by state changes in disinhibition. In this study heavy social drinkers (N = 60) were exposed to alcohol cues in a simulated bar environment, or to water cues in a teaching room. Immediately after cue exposure, participants completed a measure of disinhibition (stop-signal task) followed by self-report measures of alcohol craving, and a bogus taste test as a measure of ad libitum alcohol consumption. Alcohol cues had no direct effect on disinhibition although they led to increased subjective craving and alcohol consumption, relative to water cues. Individual differences in disinhibition were associated with self-reported alcohol craving, but not with alcohol consumption, following exposure to alcohol but not water cues. These findings are the first to highlight the association between cue-reactivity and disinhibition in a semi-naturalistic setting.