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Published on: January 5, 2018
Attentional biases in patients with alcohol dependence: influence of coexisting psychopathology
Julia M A Sinclair1, Matthew Garner1,2, Sonja C Pasche3
1Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Objective:
The effects of coexisting psychopathology on disorder-specific attentional biases in patients with alcohol dependence are uncertain. We undertook a cross-sectional study assessing attentional biases to alcohol-, depression-, and anxiety- related stimuli using the visual probe task in patients with alcohol dependence, attending a community alcohol service.
Methods:
Using the visual probe task, we presented disorder-specific words (relating to alcohol, anxiety, and depression) for 500 ms and measured reaction times.
Results:
Participants demonstrated a significant attentional bias towards alcohol-related cues (mean 8.5, p = 0.03) but significant avoidance of depression-related cues (mean -8.4, p = 0.01). The subgroup of participants who were recently abstinent (n = 70) showed greatest avoidance of depression-related cues (t(69) = 2.68, p < 0.01) but no significant vigilance towards alcohol or anxiety cues, whereas those still drinking (n = 43) showed attentional biases towards alcohol-related (t(42) = 2.70, p = 0.01) and social anxiety-related cues (t(42) = 2.84, p < 0.01). In the whole sample, the magnitude of attentional bias to alcohol was not correlated with length of drinking history, number of comorbid conditions, or severity of anxiety/depression.
Conclusions:
In a clinical sample of alcohol-dependent patients, further investigation is required to explore whether these attentional biases reflect current drinking status or factors indicating prognosis.
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