Competing Motivations: Proactive Response Inhibition Toward Addiction-Related Stimuli in Quitting-Motivated Individuals

Abstract

We examined whether addiction-related cues impact proactive inhibition (the restraint of actions in preparation for stopping) in individuals who are motivated to quit gambling or cannabis use. In Study 1, treatment-seeking individuals with cannabis use disorder and matched controls performed a stop-signal task that required them to inhibit categorizing cannabis or neutral pictures, and within varying levels of stop-signal probability. In Study 2, two groups of individuals, who applied to a voluntary self-exclusion program toward gambling, performed the stop-task following relaxation or gambling craving induction, with results compared to non-gamblers. Study 1 showed that despite being less efficient in proactive inhibition, individuals with cannabis use disorder exhibited heightened proactive inhibition toward cannabis cues. In Study 2, proactive inhibition toward gambling cues was heightened in gamblers after craving, but the degree of proactive adjustment decreased as a function of induced changes in gambling-related motivation. Present findings demonstrate that exposure to addiction-related cues can modulate proactive inhibition in individuals who are motivated to restrict their addictive behaviors.

Facing temptation: The neural correlates of gambling availability during sports picture exposure

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Bias Toward Drug-Related Stimuli Is Affected by Loading Working Memory in Abstinent Ex-Methamphetamine Users

“…Abstinent ex-methamphetamine users are probably motivated to quit or stay abstain from drugs (54, 55). This motivation leads individuals to develop avoidance strategies to cope with tempting stimuli, which meanwhile might be effortful for them (54, 56).…”

Examining Neural Reactivity to Gambling Cues in the Age of Online Betting

“…One explanation for this result is that this sample of gamblers was recruited from addiction treatment centers, where they received cognitive behavioral therapy. This could have lowered their motivational-approach tendencies when embedded into a gambling context (see also [57]).…”