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Published on: January 5, 2018
Individual differences in temptation and responses to alcohol cues
1Department of Psychology, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
High temptation to drink alcohol predicts stronger urges, difficulty controlling them, and increased consumption in hazardous drinkers. This highlights how temptation influences reactions to alcohol cues.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Addiction Research
Background:
- The Temptation and Restraint Inventory (TRI) identifies 'Temptation' as a factor linked to increased alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and dependence severity.
- Mechanisms connecting temptation to alcohol involvement remain underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between individual differences in temptation and responses to alcohol cues.
- To understand how temptation influences reactions to stimuli associated with alcohol consumption.
Main Methods:
- Eighty-nine hazardous drinkers were exposed to olfactory and visual alcohol cues.
- Participants attempted to resist urges to drink and underwent a beer taste test.
- Subjective, cognitive, and behavioral responses to alcohol cues were assessed.
Main Results:
- Temptation was significantly associated with stronger alcohol urges.
- Higher temptation correlated with increased difficulty in controlling drinking urges.
- Temptation predicted greater alcohol consumption, independent of recent drinking patterns.
Conclusions:
- Temptation effectively predicts hazardous drinkers' responses to alcohol cues, even after accounting for typical consumption.
- Individuals with high temptation levels appear more reactive to cues that anticipate alcohol consumption.
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