Interactive effects of contextual cues and acute alcohol intoxication on the associations between alcohol expectancy activation and urge to drink

This study examined the joint effects of contextual cues and alcohol intoxication on the associations between activation of positive and negative alcohol expectancies in memory and self-reported urges to drink alcohol after a laboratory alcohol administration. Young adult heavy drinkers were randomly assigned to drink a moderate dose of alcohol or a placebo (alcohol manipulation), and then listened to positive or negative drinking scenarios (cue manipulation). Before and after these manipulations, participants completed an alcohol expectancy Stroop task assessing positive and negative expectancy activation, as well as self-report measures of urges to drink. Regression analyses revealed that the alcohol and cue manipulations had a joint, moderating impact on the associations between expectancy activation and postcue changes in urge to drink. Specifically, both increased activation of negative expectancies and decreased activation of positive expectancies predicted decreases in urges to drink, but only for intoxicated participants in the negative cue condition. There were no associations between expectancy activation and urges to drink for those in the positive cue condition regardless of beverage condition. Results suggest that whether memory activation of alcohol expectancies has an impact on urge to drink after alcohol is on board may depend on the relevance of the activated expectancies to the current drinking context. This process appears to be influenced by a complex interaction between contextual cues in the environment and the pharmacological effects of alcohol.