Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida.
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University.
Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2024 Feb;32(1):27-34. doi: 10.1037/pha0000669. Epub 2023 Jun 29.
The incentive-sensitization theory (IST) has emerged as a potentially useful theory in explaining substance addiction. IST postulates that the prolonged use of a substance can alter neural systems that are often involved in incentive motivation and reward processes, leading to an increased "sensitization" to the substance and associated stimuli. However, this increased sensitization is thought to mediate only the individual's craving of the substance (e.g., their "wanting"), not their enjoyment of the substance (e.g., their "liking"), a process that may involve unconscious implicit changes in cognitive networks linked to specific substances. Consequently, IST may better explain the real-world dissonance reported for individuals who want to accomplish long-term substance cessation but fail to do so, a phenomenon that is common in adolescent smokers. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the principles of IST in a sample of 154 adolescent ad libitum smokers ( = 16.57, = 1.12, 61.14% male) utilizing ecological momentary assessment. Data were analyzed utilizing a multilevel structural equation model examining changes in positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and stress from Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2) as a function of smoking and tested the influence of implicit cognition (specifically, implicit attitudes about smoking [Implicit Association Test (IAT)]) on these associations. Consistent with the principles of IST, results found a modest significant negative association between smoking status at T1 and PA at T2 ( = -0.11, = .047). This association was further moderated by IAT ( = -0.19, = .029) and was particularly potentiated at high levels of IAT (B = -0.44, p < .001), compared to low ( = -0.05, = .663) or mean levels of IAT ( = -0.25, = .004). Findings from this study provide additional support to the principles underlying IST and indicate that, in adolescents, smoking may result in thwarted PA indicative of a transition from "liking" toward "wanting," and this is especially pronounced among those with stronger implicit smoking cognitions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
激励敏感化理论（IST）已成为解释物质成瘾的一种潜在有用的理论。IST 假设，长期使用物质会改变通常涉及激励动机和奖励过程的神经系统，导致对物质和相关刺激的“敏感性”增加。然而，这种增加的敏感性被认为仅介导个体对物质的渴望（例如，他们的“想要”），而不是他们对物质的享受（例如，他们的“喜欢”），这一过程可能涉及与特定物质相关的认知网络的无意识内隐变化。因此，IST 可能更好地解释了那些想要实现长期物质戒断但未能做到的个体报告的现实世界的不和谐现象，这种现象在青少年吸烟者中很常见。因此，本研究旨在利用生态瞬时评估，在 154 名青少年随意吸烟者样本中检验 IST 的原理（= 16.57，= 1.12，61.14%男性）。利用多层结构方程模型分析数据，该模型考察了 T1 和 T2 时吸烟对正性情绪（PA）、负性情绪（NA）和压力的影响，并测试了内隐认知（特别是对吸烟的内隐态度[内隐联想测验（IAT）]）对这些关联的影响。与 IST 的原理一致，结果发现 T1 时的吸烟状况与 T2 时的 PA 呈适度显著负相关（= -0.11，=.047）。这种关联进一步受到 IAT 的调节（= -0.19，=.029），并且在 IAT 水平较高时（B = -0.44，p <.001）比在 IAT 水平较低（= -0.05，=.663）或平均水平（= -0.25，=.004）时更为显著。本研究的结果为 IST 的基本原则提供了额外的支持，并表明在青少年中，吸烟可能导致 PA 受挫，表明从“喜欢”向“想要”的转变，而这在那些具有更强内隐吸烟认知的人中尤为明显。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2024 APA，保留所有权利）。
