Department of Psychology, Texas State University, San Marcos, 78666, USA.
J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2009 Sep;70(5):652-9. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2009.70.652.
Heavy episodic drinking in college is an issue of major concern in our society. In the college setting, where alcohol misuse is prevalent, alcohol-related perceptions and automatic attentional biases may be important determinants in students' decisions to engage in risking drinking behaviors. The current study examined college students' attention to alcohol-related beverages in real time using ocular-imaging techniques. The authors hypothesized that alcohol-consumption characteristics such as quantity-frequency of alcohol consumption would predict ocular-imaging indices of attentional bias to alcohol-related images.
Twenty-six college students successfully completed questionnaires assessing basic demographics and alcohol-consumption characteristics, followed by an eye-tracking task in which they viewed pictorial stimuli consisting of photographs of alcohol-related scenes, household objects, or a combination of these items.
Quantity-frequency index (QFI) of alcohol consumption was positively related to the percentage of initial ocular fixations on the alcohol-related items (r = .62, p = .001), whereas QFI negatively predicted the percentage of initial ocular fixations on the control images (r = -.60, p = .002). In addition, QFI positively predicted participants' dwell time on alcohol-related images (r = .57, p = .005), and negatively predicted dwell time on control images (r = -.41, p = .05). Age at first drink and days since last alcohol consumption were not related to eye-tracking metrics.
Ocular-imaging methods are a valuable tool for use in the study of attentional bias to alcohol-related images in college drinkers. Further research is needed to determine the potential application of these methods to the prevention and treatment of alcohol misuse on college campuses.
大学生重度间歇性饮酒是我们社会关注的主要问题。在大学生群体中，酒精滥用较为普遍，与酒精相关的认知和自动注意偏向可能是学生决定冒险饮酒行为的重要决定因素。本研究使用眼动成像技术实时研究大学生对酒精相关饮料的注意力。作者假设，酒精消费特征，如饮酒量和饮酒频率，将预测对酒精相关图像的注意偏向的眼动成像指标。
26 名大学生成功完成了评估基本人口统计学和酒精消费特征的问卷，随后进行了眼动追踪任务，他们观看了由酒精相关场景、家庭用品或这些物品组合的照片组成的图片刺激。
酒精摄入量的数量-频率指数（QFI）与对酒精相关物品的初始眼动注视百分比呈正相关（r =.62，p =.001），而 QFI 负预测对控制图像的初始眼动注视百分比（r = -.60，p =.002）。此外，QFI 正预测参与者对酒精相关图像的注视时间（r =.57，p =.005），并负预测对控制图像的注视时间（r = -.41，p =.05）。首次饮酒年龄和上次饮酒后的天数与眼动追踪指标无关。
眼动成像方法是研究大学生对酒精相关图像的注意偏向的有用工具。需要进一步的研究来确定这些方法在大学校园预防和治疗酒精滥用方面的潜在应用。
