The effect of automatic attentional bias modification on alcohol ambivalence

Conscious strategies such as psychoeducation are commonly used to resolve alcohol ambivalence. However, conscious strategies have had little effect on automatic approach inclination, which is one of the components of alcohol ambivalence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of automatic attentional bias modification that can affect the approach inclination in alcohol ambivalence. The study included 43 problem drinkers with alcohol ambivalence who were recruited from the university and provided informed consent. They were randomly assigned to either a group that underwent attentional bias modification or a group that underwent psychoeducation. The level of alcohol ambivalence and readiness to change was assessed using self-report questionnaires, and the pattern of alcohol ambivalence was assessed using eye movements. The results showed that psychoeducation increased problem drinkers' readiness to change. In addition, attentional bias modification changed their attentional pattern of alcohol ambivalence by decreasing the approach inclination and increasing the avoidance inclination. Based on these results, attentional bias modification was shown to be a useful method for changing the automatic approach inclination as well as the controlled avoidance inclination, and psychoeducation was shown to be a beneficial strategy for increasing problem drinkers' extrinsic readiness to change.