Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
Published on: January 5, 2018
The unique relationship between fear of cognitive dyscontrol and self-reports of problematic drinking
Nancy S Koven1, Wendy Heller, Gregory A Miller
1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA.
Abstract:
Research has established positive associations between anxiety sensitivity (AS) and problematic drinking in clinical samples. The present study confirmed this relationship in a nonclinical sample (N=162) and investigated which AS dimension best predicts self-reports of problematic drinking. Only one AS facet, fear of cognitive dyscontrol (FCC), was associated with symptoms of alcohol dependence, severity of drinking problems, and alcohol-related expectations of global, positive changes, sexual enhancement, and tension reduction. The possible role of depression in these relationships was also evaluated. A series of hierarchical regressions revealed that, when trait anxiety, anxious arousal, and anxious apprehension were statistically removed, depression did not contribute significant variance beyond the effects of FMC and other anxiety measures. Results suggest that FCC is uniquely associated with self-reports of problematic drinking behaviors and attitudes. Implications for tension-reduction models of alcohol are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Cognitive Dissonance
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Self-Regulation
Beck's Cognitive Therapy
Arbitrary Inference
Arbitrary inference involves making conclusions without sufficient...

