Marsden Emma, Murphy James G, MacKillop James, Amlung Michael
Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2023 Nov;47(11):2149-2160. doi: 10.1111/acer.15190. Epub 2023 Nov 15.
Behavioral economic research has revealed significant increases in alcohol demand following exposure to alcohol-related cues. Prior research has focused exclusively on nontreatment-seeking heavy drinkers, included only male participants, or used heterogeneous methods. The current studies sought to replicate and extend existing findings in treatment-seeking and nontreatment-seeking heavy drinkers while also examining sex effects and moderation by alcohol use disorder (AUD) severity.
Study 1 included 117 nontreatment-seeking heavy drinkers (51.5% women; M age 34.69; 56.4% AUD+), and Study 2 included 89 treatment-seeking heavy drinkers with AUD (40.4% women; M age = 41.35). In both studies, alcohol demand was measured using a hypothetical alcohol purchase task (APT), and subjective alcohol craving was measured using visual analog scales. Measures were collected following exposure to neutral (water) cues in a standard room and alcohol cues in a bar lab.
Alcohol demand (intensity, O , breakpoint, and elasticity) and craving were significantly increased following alcohol cues compared to neutral cues (ps < 0.005) with effect sizes ranging from small to large (η = 0.074-0.480). Participants with AUD (Study 1) or with higher AUD severity (Study 2) reported higher craving and higher demand for most indices (i.e., main effects; ps < 0.032, η = 0.043-0.239). A larger alcohol cue increase in O was found for AUD+ participants in Study 1 compared to non-AUD participants (p = 0.028, η = 0.041) but not for any other indices in Study 1 or Study 2. There were no significant sex effects.
These findings replicate and extend prior research by offering additional insight into alcohol cue effects on the reinforcing value of alcohol and subjective motivation to drink. The results also suggest that sex and AUD severity do not meaningfully impact cue effects across most indices of demand.
行为经济学研究表明，接触与酒精相关的线索后，酒精需求会显著增加。先前的研究仅关注不寻求治疗的重度饮酒者，仅纳入男性参与者，或使用了不同的方法。当前的研究旨在重复并扩展现有研究结果，涉及寻求治疗和不寻求治疗的重度饮酒者，同时研究性别效应以及酒精使用障碍（AUD）严重程度的调节作用。
研究1纳入了117名不寻求治疗的重度饮酒者（51.5%为女性；平均年龄34.69岁；56.4%患有AUD），研究2纳入了89名患有AUD的寻求治疗重度饮酒者（40.4%为女性；平均年龄 = 41.35岁）。在两项研究中，使用假设性酒精购买任务（APT）测量酒精需求，并使用视觉模拟量表测量主观酒精渴望。在标准房间接触中性（水）线索和在酒吧实验室接触酒精线索后收集测量数据。
与中性线索相比，接触酒精线索后，酒精需求（强度、O、断点和弹性）和渴望显著增加（p值 < 0.005），效应大小从小到中等（η = 0.074 - 0.480）。患有AUD的参与者（研究1）或AUD严重程度较高的参与者（研究2）在大多数指标上报告了更高的渴望和更高的需求（即主效应；p值 < 0.032，η = 0.043 - 0.239）。研究1中，与未患AUD的参与者相比，患AUD+的参与者在O方面酒精线索增加更大（p = 0.028，η = 0.041），但研究1或研究2中的任何其他指标均未发现此差异。未发现显著的性别效应。
这些发现重复并扩展了先前的研究，为酒精线索对酒精强化价值和主观饮酒动机的影响提供了更多见解。结果还表明，性别和AUD严重程度在大多数需求指标上对线索效应没有显著影响。
