Retraining automatic action‐tendencies to approach alcohol in hazardous drinkers

Abstract

Retraining automatic processes may help to regain control over addictive impulses, which points to new treatment possibilities.

On the predictive validity of automatically activated approach/avoidance tendencies in abstaining alcohol-dependent patients

“…Second, whereas explicit measures of alcohol problems failed to predict relapse, logistic regression analyses revealed a clear relationship between relapse and R-SRC performance: Relapse rates increased rather than decreased as alcohol patients were faster to avoid alcohol-related pictures compared to alcohol-unrelated pictures. Both observations are at odds with prior work showing that alcohol-related stimuli elicit approach tendencies rather than avoid tendencies (e.g., Palfai and Ostafin, 2003;Ostafin and Palfai, 2006;Wiers et al, 2009Wiers et al, , 2010. They are also at odds with the more general assumption that addiction is mediated or maintained by automatic approach tendencies towards alcohol (e.g., Deutsch and Strack, 2006;Robinson and Berridge, 1993;Stacy and Wiers, 2010;Tiffany, 1990;Wiers and Stacy, 2006).…”

“…Consider, for example, the findings obtained by Wiers et al (2010). They examined alcohol consumption in participants who were either trained to avoid or to approach alcohol during a computer task.…”

Attentional bias modification based on visual probe task: methodological issues, results and clinical relevance

“…9 This systematic review focused on methods and results of studies about ABM using a specific modified visual probe task, which may be a limitation of this study. Other experimental methods used to modify AB, such as touch the face, 72 alcohol attention-control training program, 73 goal instructions, 74 structure and semantic task, 75 and push or pull the joystick, 76 were…”

Selectieve en geïndiceerde preventie van problematisch middelengebruik bij jongeren

“…Recentelijk is een start gemaakt met het veranderen van deze automatische processen door middel van computerinterventies waarbij deelnemers getraind worden om hun aandacht van alcoholgerelateerde plaatjes af te wenden, of om alcoholgerelateerde stimuli van zich af te duwen met een joystick. Hiermee zijn hoopgevende resultaten gevonden bij zwaar drinkende studenten (Wiers, Rinck, Kordts, Houben, & Strack, 2010) en alcoholverslaafde volwassenen (Schoenmakers e.a., 2010;Wiers, Eberl, Rinck, Becker, & Lindenmeyer, 2010). Meer onderzoek is nodig om de waarde van deze trainingen als preventieve interventie bij jongeren te bepalen.…”