Behavioral Medicine and Addictions Research, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, United States of America.
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, United States of America.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2022 Jan;132:108614. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108614. Epub 2021 Aug 28.
Alcohol cravings can predict relapse in persons with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Consuming sweets is a commonly recommend strategy to quell alcohol cravings in early recovery from AUD, yet research is equivocal on whether consuming sweets mitigates alcohol cravings or relapse risk. The current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data to examine real-time alcohol cravings, sweet cravings, and consumption of sweets among adults in early recovery from AUD.
We used EMA methods to follow 25 adults (n = 14 women, 56%; M. age 40, S.D. 10.68) recently discharged from a partial hospitalization program for AUD for 21 days. Prompts were sent to the participants for completion four times per day via a mobile app. EMA data were disaggregated prior to analysis to examine between- and within-person effects. A series of three mixed linear models tested: 1) the contemporaneous effect of sweet and alcohol cravings, 2) alcohol cravings predicting sweet consumption later in the day, and 3) sweet consumption predicting alcohol craving later in the day.
The results of the first model revealed alcohol cravings were associated with sweet cravings early in recovery. In the second model, no effect occurred between alcohol cravings earlier in the day predicting sweet consumption later in the day. The third model suggested consuming sweets earlier in the day predicted higher alcohol cravings later in the day.
Sweet craving and consumption are associated with alcohol cravings among adults in early recovery from AUD. These findings suggest consuming sweets may increase alcohol cravings. If future studies can replicate this result, consuming sweets in early recovery may emerge as a potential risk for relapse in this population.
酒精渴求可预测酒精使用障碍（AUD）患者的复发。在 AUD 早期康复期间，人们通常建议食用甜食来抑制对酒精的渴望，但关于食用甜食是否可以减轻酒精渴求或复发风险，研究结果尚无定论。本研究使用生态瞬时评估（EMA）数据，来检测 AUD 早期康复成人的即时酒精渴求、甜食渴求以及食用甜食的情况。
我们使用 EMA 方法对 25 名最近从 AUD 部分住院治疗计划出院的成年人（n=14 名女性，56%；M.年龄 40，S.D.10.68）进行了为期 21 天的随访。通过移动应用程序每天四次向参与者发送提示以完成 EMA 数据。在分析之前，将 EMA 数据进行了细分，以检验个体间和个体内的影响。通过三个混合线性模型检验了以下三个方面：1）甜食和酒精渴求的同期影响；2）当天早些时候的酒精渴求预测当天晚些时候的甜食消费；3）当天早些时候的甜食消费预测当天晚些时候的酒精渴求。
第一个模型的结果表明，在康复早期，酒精渴求与甜食渴求有关。在第二个模型中，当天早些时候的酒精渴求并未预测当天晚些时候的甜食消费。第三个模型表明，当天早些时候食用甜食会导致当天晚些时候更高的酒精渴求。
在 AUD 早期康复的成年人中，甜食渴求与消费与酒精渴求有关。这些发现表明，食用甜食可能会增加对酒精的渴求。如果未来的研究能够复制这一结果，那么在该人群中，早期康复期间食用甜食可能会成为复发的潜在风险。
