Identifying Triggers of Alcohol Craving to Develop Effective Virtual Environments for Cue Exposure Therapy

Ghiţă, Alexandra; Teixidor, Lídia; Monràs, Miquel; Ortega, Lluïsa; Mondón, Sílvia; Gual, Antoni; Paredes, Sofia Miranda; Urgell, Laura Villares; Porras-García, Bruno; Ferrer-García, Marta; Gutiérrez-Maldonado, José

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00074

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 104 publications

(149 reference statements)

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“…We interpret this result as being representative of a group of young social drinkers, whose drinking patterns involve social interaction and peer pressure, especially in bars and pubs. The result also confirms the contextual specificity of craving for alcohol [49,54].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…“ALCO-VR” software was developed based on the results of a previous study [49], in which we identified factors that contribute to the elicitation of alcohol craving in a sample of patients diagnosed with AUD. Based on that study, the ALCO-VR software was created, consisting of four VR alcohol-related environments: a restaurant, a bar, a pub, and at-home environments (Figure 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cue-Elicited Anxiety and Alcohol Craving as Indicators of the Validity of ALCO-VR Software: A Virtual Reality Study

Ghiţă

Hernández-Serrano

Fernández-Ruiz

et al. 2019

JCM

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Background: This study is part of a larger project aiming to develop a virtual reality (VR) software to be implemented as a clinical tool for patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD). The study is based on previous research in which we identified factors that elicit craving for alcohol in a sample of AUD patients, and which led to the development of a virtual reality software to be used in cue exposure treatments of alcohol use disorder (ALCO-VR). The main objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of ALCO-VR to elicit cue-induced craving and anxiety responses among social drinkers (SD) and AUD patients. Our secondary objective was to explore which responses (cue-induced craving or anxiety) can best differentiate between AUD patients and the SD group. Method: Twenty-seven individuals (13 AUD patients and 14 SD) participated in this study after giving written informed consent. Their anxiety and alcohol craving levels were measured by different instruments at different stages of the procedure. The VR equipment consisted of Oculus Rift technology, and the software consisted of the ALCO-VR platform. Results: Our data indicate that the ALCO-VR software can elicit responses of anxiety and alcohol craving, especially in the group of AUD patients. The cue-induced anxiety response differentiated AUD patients and the SD group better than the cue-induced craving response. Conclusions: The general interest in applying new technologies to the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders has led to the development of immersive real-life simulations based on the advantages of VR technology. Our study concluded that the ALCO-VR software can elicit anxiety and craving responses and that cue-induced anxiety responses can distinguish between AUD and SD groups better than cue-induced craving. The data on craving and anxiety were assessed consistently by different instruments. In addition, we consider that ALCO-VR is able to ecologically assess cue-induced anxiety and alcohol craving levels during exposure to VR alcohol-related environments.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cue-Elicited Anxiety and Alcohol Craving as Indicators of the Validity of ALCO-VR Software: A Virtual Reality Study

Ghiţă

Hernández-Serrano

Fernández-Ruiz

et al. 2019

JCM

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“…However, neurobiological changes may occur with repetitive binge-drinking conditions [31,32], and may increase cravings [33]. Ghiţă et al reported a variability of the levels of alcohol craving in relation to the day of the week, and drinking during weekends in Spain (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) was associated with greater craving levels in patients with alcohol use disorder [17]. These ndings may support the high intake on Monday and Friday in the Burkinabe context.…”

Section: Associations Between Dependence Signs and Increased Drinkingmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In the alcohol misuse/addiction process, dependence is the ultimate state, with craving as the main feature [12]. It has been suggested that alcohol cravings are triggered by peer pressure in social environments [13,14], that alcohol cravings are context-dependent [15,16] and that the time of the day [17] and day of the week [18,19] may modulate alcohol cravings. The relationships between weekdays and weekend drinking and alcohol misuse have not been explored in Burkina Faso.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of the daily drinking patterns and their relationships with alcohol dependence symptoms among adult users in Burkina Faso

Diendéré

Kabore

Hien

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: The alcohol consumption level is rising in Burkina Faso, which has the highest prevalence of heavy drinking in West Africa. This study used daily alcohol intake levels to explore drinking behaviors in regard to the days of the week and associations with dependence signs.Methods: We operated variables from the past 12-month drinkers reported by the 2013 Stepwise survey, which provided information on daily drinking and symptoms of alcohol dependence. We performed student tests, principal component analyses and logistic regression.Results: Data from 1,139 past 12-month drinkers was analyzed, and 15.9% (95%; CI: 13.8–18.1) of users had at least one sign of alcohol dependence. Both drinkers without and with dependence symptoms had a common behavior for higher intake on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, while lower intake behavior was observed on Tuesday. Only drinkers with dependence signs had high intake behavior, especially on Monday and Friday. In multivariate analysis, alcohol dependence signs were associated with increased drinking only on Monday [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) =1.24, p=0.0001)] or Friday (aOR=1.15, p=0.003).Conclusion: For drinkers without any dependence sympoms, behaviors for higher intake were limited to Thursday, Saturday and Sunday in accordance with the “social events schedule” and the “weekly administrative time-off”, but those with dependence signs extended this kind of behavior to Monday or Friday, likely due to the increased and persistent craving triggered by the high intake the previous day.

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“…a bar, a pub and parties), but women also reported higher levels of cravings in contexts not commonly associated with alcohol (e.g. the workplace, bedroom and supermarket) (Ghiţă et al, 2019). Thus, alcohol craving in men may be more specific to certain environmental contexts than in women.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Sex differences in the amplification of responding to an alcohol-predictive cue by an alcohol-associated context

Segal¹,

Valyear²,

Chaudhri³

2020

Preprint

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BackgroundIn male rats, physical contexts that are associated with alcohol can invigorate responding to a discrete, alcohol-predictive conditioned stimulus (CS), and amplify priming-induced reinstatement. Here, we examined these effects as a function of biological sex.MethodsMale and female Long-Evans rats were acclimated to drinking ethanol (EtOH, 15% v/v) in their home cages. Next, they were trained to associate an auditory CS (10 s; white noise; 15 trials per session) with EtOH delivery (0.2 ml per CS; 3.0 ml per session) into a fluid port for oral intake. Training occurred in a distinctive context containing specific visual, olfactory, and tactile stimuli. During alternating sessions rats were exposed to a second context where they did not receive EtOH. At test, CS presentations occurred in both contexts without EtOH delivery. Rats then underwent extinction using repeated unreinforced presentations of the CS in both contexts. An alcohol-primed reinstatement test was then conducted, in which 0.2 ml of EtOH was presented both at the start of the session and during the first CS presentation, after which no EtOH was delivered for the remainder of the session.ResultsAt both test and reinstatement, male rats made significantly more CS port-entries in the context associated with alcohol delivery than in the context in which alcohol was never experienced. Unlike males, female rats made a similar number of CS port-entries at test in both the alcohol context and the neutral context. The reinstatement observed in female rats was not affected by context.ConclusionsThese findings identify novel sex differences in the capacity of an alcohol-associated context to modulate responding to a discrete, alcohol-predictive cue.

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Identifying Triggers of Alcohol Craving to Develop Effective Virtual Environments for Cue Exposure Therapy

Cited by 34 publications

References 104 publications

Cue-Elicited Anxiety and Alcohol Craving as Indicators of the Validity of ALCO-VR Software: A Virtual Reality Study

Cue-Elicited Anxiety and Alcohol Craving as Indicators of the Validity of ALCO-VR Software: A Virtual Reality Study

Examination of the daily drinking patterns and their relationships with alcohol dependence symptoms among adult users in Burkina Faso

Sex differences in the amplification of responding to an alcohol-predictive cue by an alcohol-associated context

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