Jones Andrew, Button Emily, Rose Abigail K, Robinson Eric, Christiansen Paul, Di Lemma Lisa, Field Matt
Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZA, UK.
UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, Liverpool, UK.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2016 Mar;233(5):917-24. doi: 10.1007/s00213-015-4171-z. Epub 2015 Dec 18.
Motivation to drink alcohol can be measured in the laboratory using an ad-libitum 'taste test', in which participants rate the taste of alcoholic drinks whilst their intake is covertly monitored. Little is known about the construct validity of this paradigm.
The objective of this study was to investigate variables that may compromise the validity of this paradigm and its construct validity.
We re-analysed data from 12 studies from our laboratory that incorporated an ad-libitum taste test. We considered time of day and participants' awareness of the purpose of the taste test as potential confounding variables. We examined whether gender, typical alcohol consumption, subjective craving, scores on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and perceived pleasantness of the drinks predicted ad-libitum consumption (construct validity).
We included 762 participants (462 female). Participant awareness and time of day were not related to ad-libitum alcohol consumption. Males drank significantly more alcohol than females (p < 0.001), and individual differences in typical alcohol consumption (p = 0.04), craving (p < 0.001) and perceived pleasantness of the drinks (p = 0.04) were all significant predictors of ad-libitum consumption.
We found little evidence that time of day or participant awareness influenced alcohol consumption. The construct validity of the taste test was supported by relationships between ad-libitum consumption and typical alcohol consumption, craving and pleasantness ratings of the drinks. The ad-libitum taste test is a valid method for the assessment of alcohol intake in the laboratory.
饮酒动机可在实验室中通过自由的“味觉测试”来衡量，即参与者对酒精饮料的味道进行评分，同时暗中监测他们的摄入量。对于这种范式的结构效度知之甚少。
本研究的目的是调查可能损害这种范式的效度及其结构效度的变量。
我们重新分析了来自我们实验室的12项研究的数据，这些研究都纳入了自由味觉测试。我们将一天中的时间和参与者对味觉测试目的的知晓情况视为潜在的混杂变量。我们检查了性别、典型饮酒量、主观渴望程度、酒精使用障碍识别测试得分以及对饮料的感知愉悦度是否能预测自由摄入量（结构效度）。
我们纳入了762名参与者（462名女性）。参与者的知晓情况和一天中的时间与自由饮酒量无关。男性饮酒量显著多于女性（p < 0.001），典型饮酒量的个体差异（p = 0.04）、渴望程度（p < 0.001）以及对饮料的感知愉悦度（p = 0.04）都是自由摄入量的显著预测因素。
我们几乎没有发现证据表明一天中的时间或参与者的知晓情况会影响酒精摄入量。自由摄入量与典型饮酒量、渴望程度以及饮料愉悦度评分之间的关系支持了味觉测试的结构效度。自由味觉测试是在实验室中评估酒精摄入量的一种有效方法。
