Explicit and implicit effects of anti-marijuana and anti-tobacco TV advertisements

Effects of anti-tobacco and anti-marijuana TV advertisements on explicit (i.e., semantic differential ratings) and implicit (i.e. Implicit Association Test, IAT) attitudes toward tobacco and marijuana were compared. Two hundred twenty nine, 18- to 19-year-old U.S. college students were randomly assigned to anti-tobacco or anti-marijuana PSA viewing conditions. Participants completed a short survey on attitudes to tobacco and marijuana. Afterwards they watched 15 PSAs embedded in a 15-min science program. At the end, all participants completed IAT for marijuana, IAT for tobacco and the assessment of explicit attitudes. Results of ANCOVA revealed a significant interaction between type of TV PSAs watched and implicit attitudes, F(1,223)=7.12, p<0.01 when controlling for preexisting attitudes to both substances; the implicit attitudes were more negative toward the substance that corresponded to the content of advertisements watched (i.e., anti-tobacco or anti-marijuana). However, analogical analysis on explicit measures showed that attitudes to marijuana became less negative among students that watched anti-marijuana ads than the group with anti-tobacco ads, F(1,222)=5.79, p<0.02. The discussion focused on the practical and theoretical implications of the observed dissociation between implicit and explicit attitudes to marijuana after the exposure to anti-marijuana PSAs.     

In the eye of the drinker: Drinking motives influence the effectiveness of conditioning implicit alcohol attitudes

Risky alcohol use is prevalent among college students. Pre-intervention research has established methods of influencing alcohol cognition and reducing short-term alcohol consumption among students using evaluative conditioning (EC), repeatedly pairing alcohol with emotionally valenced images. Specifically, negative EC promotes negative attitudes toward alcohol, but additional research is needed to understand the range of EC effects and conditions under which it is or is not effective. For example, whether pairing alcohol with positive images promotes positive alcohol attitudes has not been tested. Further, drinking motives may influence the effectiveness of conditioning alcohol attitudes, since these motives are strongly associated with emotional stimuli like those presented in EC. The current experiment tested the interaction of drinking motives (coping and enhancement) and EC valence (negative or positive) on implicit alcohol avoidance. Participants (N = 95) were undergraduate students reporting active alcohol use. Results indicated no main effect of EC condition on implicit alcohol avoidance. However, drinking motives interacted with EC procedures assigned to participants. Those reporting greater coping motives exhibited less implicit alcohol avoidance following negative EC, whereas those reporting greater enhancement motives exhibited less alcohol avoidance following positive EC. Findings indicate drinking motives may influence the effectiveness of EC for altering alcohol attitudes. Negative EC did not promote alcohol avoidance among college students reporting higher coping motives, and positive EC only reduced avoidance among students reporting higher enhancement motives. These results indicate drinking motives interact with situational cues to impact both positive and negative responses to alcohol.     

Attentional bias to alcohol stimuli predicts elevated cue-induced craving in young adult social drinkers

Considerable evidence has identified biased cognitive processing of alcohol-related stimuli as an important factor in the maintenance of alcohol-seeking and relapse among individuals suffering from alcohol use-disorders (AUDs). In addition, a large body of research has demonstrated that exposure to alcohol cues can elicit powerful alcohol cravings. Little is known, however, about the possible relationship between attentional bias and cue-induced cravings, and even less is known about these processes in social drinkers without a personal history of AUDs. The goal of this study was to examine the possibility that attentional biases toward alcohol-related stimuli would predict elevated cue-induced alcohol craving in this population. Young adult social drinkers (N = 30, Mean age = 22.8 ± 1.9, 61% female) recruited from an urban university population completed a visual dot probe task in which they were presented with alcohol and neutral stimulus pictures that were immediately followed by a visual probe replacing one of the pictures. Attentional bias was measured by calculating reaction times to probes that replaced alcohol stimuli vs. neutral stimuli. Participants then completed a classic alcohol cue-exposure task and reported cravings immediately before and after alcohol and neutral cue-exposures. Not surprisingly, exposure to alcohol cues elicited significant cravings. Consistent with the study hypothesis, larger attentional biases toward alcohol stimuli predicted higher levels of alcohol craving. Findings demonstrate that heightened attention to alcohol stimuli can significantly impact motivation to consume in healthy young adults, and suggest a possible pathway linking cognitive processes early in the drinking trajectory to the later development of AUDs.     

Resolving an identity crisis: Implicit drinking identity and implicit alcohol identity are related but not the same

Two variations of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Drinking Identity IAT and the Alcohol Identity IAT, assess implicit associations held in memory between one's identity and alcohol-related constructs. Both have been shown to predict numerous drinking outcomes, but these IATs have never been directly compared to one another. The purpose of this study was to compare these IATs and evaluate their incremental predictive validity. US undergraduate students (N = 64, 50% female, mean age = 21.98 years) completed the Drinking Identity IAT, the Alcohol Identity IAT, an explicit measure of drinking identity, as well as measures of typical alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking. When evaluated in separate regression models that controlled for explicit drinking identity, results indicated that the Drinking Identity IAT and the Alcohol Identity IAT were significant, positive predictors of typical alcohol consumption, and that the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, was a significant predictor of hazardous drinking. When evaluated in the same regression models, the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, was significantly associated with typical and hazardous drinking. These results suggest that the Drinking Identity IAT and Alcohol Identity IAT are related but not redundant. Moreover, given that the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, incrementally predicted variance in drinking outcomes, identification with drinking behavior and social groups, as opposed to identification with alcohol itself, may be an especially strong predictor of drinking outcomes.     

To drink or to drink less? Distinguishing between effects of implementation intentions on decisions to drink and how much to drink in treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorder

IntroductionFor many people with alcohol use disorders, alcohol drinking is a highly ingrained and automatized behavior with negative long-term health consequences. Implementation intentions, a behavioral intervention that links high-risk drinking situations with alternative, healthier responses, provide a means to intervene on habitual drinking behaviors. Here, a pilot treatment using implementation intentions was assessed with remote assessments and treatment prompts.MethodsTreatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorder between the ages of 18 and 65 were recruited from the community from October 2014 to November 2016. Participants (N = 35) were quasi-randomly assigned to complete either active (n = 18) or control (n = 17) two-week implementation intention interventions. Active implementation intentions linked high-risk situations with alternative responses whereas the control condition selected situations and responses but did not link these together. Daily ecological momentary interventions of participant-tailored implementation intentions were delivered via text message. Alcohol consumption was assessed once daily with self-reported ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) of drinks consumed the previous day and thrice daily remotely submitted breathalyzer samples to assess reliability of self-reports.ResultsOn drinking days (80% of days), the active implementation intentions group reduced alcohol consumption during the intervention period compared to the control condition; however the difference between consumption was not observed at one-month follow-up.DiscussionThe implementation intention intervention was associated with a 1.09 drink per day decrease in alcohol consumption on drinking days compared to a decrease of 0.29 drinks per day in the control condition. Future studies may combine implementation intentions with other treatments to help individuals to reduce alcohol consumption.     

Alcohol use,risky sexual behavior,and condom possession among bar patrons

PurposeThe current study seeks to: 1) assess the relationship between alcohol consumption and intentions to engage in unprotected sex in an uncontrolled environment, and 2) to identify if covariates (race, age, sex, breath alcohol content (BrAC), intentions to engage in sex, hazardous drinking rates) are significant predictors of condom possession during time of uncontrolled alcohol consumption.MethodsData were collected from 917 bar patrons to assess alcohol use using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C), BrAC levels, intentions to engage in risky sex, and condom possession. Correlational analysis and hierarchical binary logistic regression was conducted using SPSS.ResultsCorrelational analyses indicated a negative relationship between AUDIT-C scores (r = − 0.115, p = 0.001), BrAC (r = − 0.08, p = 0.015), and intentions to use a condom. Over 70% of participants intended to use a condom if they engaged in sex; however, only 28.4% had a condom to use. The regression analysis indicated the predictive model (χ² = 114.5, df = 8, p < 0.001) was statistically significant, and correctly classified 72.9% of those in possession of a condom.ConclusionsAlcohol consumption was associated with intentions to have unprotected sex; however, intentions to engage in protected sex and condom possession were higher for males and those with higher BrAC levels.     

Information-enhancement and goal setting techniques for increasing adaptive motivation and decreasing urges to drink alcohol

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to determine whether experimental manipulation of sense of control would change moderate drinkers' (N = 106) task-specific motivational structure and explicit and implicit determinants of their urge to drink alcohol.MethodThe effects of various levels of information-enhancement and goal-setting on participants' performance on experimental tasks were assessed. Participants were randomly assigned to a high-sense-of-control, low-sense-of-control, or no-intervention group. Dependent measures were indices derived from a task-specific version of the Personal Concerns Inventory and the Shapiro Control Inventory, Alcohol Urge Questionnaire, and alcohol Stroop test.ResultsAt baseline, there were no differences among the groups on any of the measures; however, post-experimentally, induced sense of control had led to increases in adaptive motivation and decreases in explicit and implicit measures of the urge to drink.ConclusionsThe results show that sense of control can be experimentally induced. This finding has important clinical implications.     

Examination of approach and avoidance inclinations on the reinforcing value of alcohol

Although behavioral economics tends to focus on environmental factors (i.e., price, availability) that act to influence valuation of alcohol, recent research has begun to address how motivational and cognitive factors influence an individual's demand for alcohol. Motivational states, including craving, are one possible mechanism underlying the value based decision making that demand represents. Using a multidimensional model of craving (Ambivalence Model of Craving), the current study examined the relationships between indices of alcohol demand (i.e., reinforcing value of alcohol) and craving (i.e., approach inclinations), and the ways in which competing desires moderate that relationship (i.e., avoidance inclinations). Individuals who reported consuming alcohol in the past month were recruited for the study using Amazon's Mechanical Turk. A total of 529 participants (mean age = 33.03 years, SD = 8.85) completed a series of surveys assessing their drinking behavior and other alcohol-related measures. Multiple regression analyses indicated that while approach significantly predicted intensity (i.e., consumption at zero cost), O_max (i.e., the maximum alcohol expenditure) and breakpoint (i.e., the first price that seizes consumption), avoidance moderated the relationship between approach and O_max and breakpoint. Specifically, follow up analyses demonstrated that higher avoidance inclinations attenuated the effect of approach inclinations on these demand indices. Finally, despite conceptual overlap between approach, avoidance, and alcohol demand, regression analyses indicated that these constructs account for unique variance in alcohol outcomes. These results illustrate the importance of considering the effects of both approach and avoidance inclinations on an individual's valuation of alcohol.     

Using the Extrinsic Affective Simon Test as a measure of implicit attitudes towards alcohol: relationship with drinking behavior and alcohol problems

In apparent contrast to the alleged importance of positive alcohol expectancies in alcohol (ab)use, a series of studies using the Implicit Association Test (IAT; [Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J.L.K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464-1480]), found that heavy and light drinkers display more negative implicit attitudes toward alcohol than toward sodas (e.g., [Wiers, R. W., van Woerden, N., Smulders, F. T. Y., & de Jong, P. J. (2002). Implicit and explicit alcohol-related cognitions in heavy and light drinkers. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 648-658]). One explanation for this might be that the negative-alcohol IAT effect reflects an artifact of the IAT procedure and are due to its relative nature and/or its sensitivity to task recoding strategies. Therefore, the present study used a non-relative measure that has been argued to be robust against participants' task recoding strategies (Extrinsic Affective Simon Test; EAST, [De Houwer, J. (2001). A structural and process analysis of the Implicit Association Test. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 37, 443-451]) to test heavy (n=16) and light (n=16) drinkers' automatic affective associations with alcohol and sodas. Heavy and light drinkers displayed clear positive associations with sodas and neutral (or ambivalent) automatic associations with alcohol. Importantly, positive automatic alcohol associations predicted unique variance of alcohol (mis)use and was the single best predictor of individuals' alcohol problems, underlining the idea that they do play a role in alcohol (mis)use.     

Primary rat hepatocytes in chemical testing and QSAR predictive applicability

Primary rat hepatocytes were used to test acute toxicities of 16 neutral aliphatic alcohols, ketones and esters. Their effects on cell viability and metabolic function (ureogenesis, i.e. biotransformation of ornithine to urea) were measured and expressed as EC50 values. Log EC50 values from both tests correlated with the log partition coefficients for the chemicals between n-octanol and water and log P_ow-based QSAR models were derived. Log EC50 (viability) tightly correlates with log EC50 (ureogenesis): log EC50 (viability) = 0.91 log EC50 (ureogenesis) + 0.06. Each of these toxic indices can be substituted by the other one. The toxic indices for both cell viability and metabolic disorder can be estimated using log EC50 for movement inhibition in the oligochaete Tubifex tubifex and the respective QSAR equation. It eliminates a usage of rats. Their correlations were proved and justified.     

Evaluative conditioning: A brief computer-delivered intervention to reduce college student drinking

BackgroundRecent research suggests that a brief computer-delivered intervention based on evaluative conditioning (EC) can change the implicit evaluation of alcohol and reduce drinking behaviors among college students. We tested whether we could obtain similar findings in a high-powered preregistered study and whether hazardous drinking moderates these effects.MethodBefore the intervention, 122 French college students were screened for hazardous drinking using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). Implicit evaluation of alcohol was assessed before and immediately after the intervention using an Implicit Association Test (IAT). Drinking behavior was assessed before the intervention and approximately two weeks after using the TimeLine Follow Back (TLFB) method. The EC consisted of 120 trials of words (related to alcoholic beverages, soft drinks or neutral) paired with pictures (neutral, positive or negative). In the EC condition, alcohol-related words were systematically paired with negative pictures. In the control condition, alcohol-related words were systematically paired with neutral pictures.ResultsThe EC did not change the implicit evaluation of alcohol, Cohen's d = 0.01, 95CI [−0.35, 0.35]. However, the EC reduced drinking behavior, Cohen's d = 0.37, 95CI [0.01, 0.72]. This effect was independent of hazardous drinking behavior, but it was especially pronounced among participants with the most positive implicit evaluation of alcohol before the intervention.ConclusionThis preregistered study suggests that evaluative conditioning can successfully reduce drinking behavior among college students by 31% (compared to 4% in the control condition) without causing an immediate change in the implicit evaluation of alcohol.     

Psychographic characteristics,tobacco, and alcohol use in a sample of young adults on the U.S./México border

Few studies using psychographic segmentation have been conducted; even fewer in minority samples. Study aims were to identify psychographic clusters and their relation to tobacco and alcohol use within a predominantly Hispanic (87%) young adult (ages 18–25) sample. Participants (N = 754; 72.5% female; M_age = 20.7 [2.2]) completed the following measures online: sociodemographics, tobacco use history, the Daily Drinking Questionnaire (Collins, Parks, & Marlatt, 1985), a social activities scale, a psychographic survey, a music preference item, the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (Hoyle, Stephenson, Palmgreen, Lorch, & Donohew, 2002), and the Mini-International Personality Item Pool (Donnellan, Oswald, Baird, & Lucas, 2006). Two step cluster analysis identified two groups. ‘Popular Extroverts’ (49.3% of sample) reported higher: extroversion scores F(1, 652) = 40.03, sensation seeking scores F(1, 652) = 20.38, alcohol use (greater number of drinks per week [F(1, 652) = 9.69]; and past month binge drinking [χ² (1) = 12.80]), and lifetime tobacco use (χ² [1] = 10.61) (all ps ≤ 0.002). ‘Mainstream/Conventionals’ (50.7% of sample) reported greater intentions to smoke in the next month F(1, 284) = 11.81, p = 0.001. ‘Popular Extroverts’ may benefit from prevention/cessation messaging promoting peer support and intensity-oriented activities. For ‘Mainstream/Conventionals,’ messaging communicating negative attitudes toward smoking and the tobacco industry may be effective. Future directions include testing targeted messages which may be incorporated into mass media tobacco and alcohol interventions for young adults on the U.S./México border.     

Examining the relationship between personality and affect-related attributes and adolescents' intentions to try smoking using the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale

Assessments of adolescents' smoking intentions indicate that many are susceptible to smoking initiation because they do not have resolute intentions to abstain from trying smoking in the future. Although researchers have developed personality and affect-related risk factor profiles to understand risk for the initiation of substance use and abuse (e.g., alcohol), few have examined the extent to which these risk factors are related to the tobacco use intentions of adolescents who have yet to try tobacco smoking. The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between personality and affect-related risk factors measured by the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) and smoking intentions in a sample of adolescents who have not experimented with tobacco smoking. Data is based on responses from 1352 participants in the British Columbia Adolescent Substance Use Survey (56% female, 76% in Grade 8) who had never tried smoking tobacco. Of these 1352 participants, 29% (n = 338) were classified as not having resolute intentions to not try smoking. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the relationship between each SURPS dimension (Anxiety Sensitivity, Hopelessness, Impulsivity and Sensation Seeking) and the intention to try cigarettes in the future. Hopelessness (AOR 1.06, 95% CI [1.03, 1.10], p < .001), Impulsivity (AOR 1.07 [1.03, 1.11], p < .001) and Sensation Seeking (AOR 1.05 95% CI [1.02, 1.09], p < .01) had independent statistically significant associations with having an intention to try smoking. These findings may be used to inform a prevention-oriented framework to reduce susceptibility to tobacco smoking.     

Can attitudes about smoking impact cigarette cravings?

Cigarette cravings, especially those in response to environmental stressors and other smoking-related triggers (e.g., passing by a favorite smoking spot), are important contributors to smoking behavior and relapse. Previous studies have demonstrated significant individual differences in such cravings. This study explores the possibility that attitudes about smoking can influence the experience of cigarette craving. Consistent with classical theories of the links between cognition and motivation, we predicted that smokers who exhibit more favorable attitudes towards smoking would have greater cravings. Daily smokers (n = 103, mean age = 41.8 years, 33% female) were instructed to imagine smoking, stress, and neutral scenarios. Cravings were measured prior to and after each exposure. Participants also completed an abridged version of the Smoking Consequence Questionnaire (SCQ) that had them rate the: 1) desirability and 2) likelihood, for eighteen separate negative smoking consequences (e.g., “The more I smoke, the more I risk my health”, “People will think less of me if they see me smoking”). Findings revealed that favorable attitudes about the consequences of smoking, as measured by the SCQ-desirability index, significantly predicted cigarette cravings. Findings suggest that individual attitudes toward smoking may play an important role in better understanding cigarette cravings, which may ultimately help identify targets for more efficient and effective cognitive/attitude-based interventions for smoking cessation.     

Alcohol attitudes,motives, norms,and personality traits longitudinally classify nondrinkers,moderate drinkers,and binge drinkers using discriminant function analysis

IntroductionBinge drinking is commonly defined in the literature as consuming at least 5 drinks for males and 4 drinks for females. These quantities correspond to approximately a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08%, the level of intoxication making it illegal to drive in the United States.MethodsThe study scrutinized the longitudinal classification of three drinker types using male (n = 155) and female (n = 351) college students. Measures of personality (sensation seeking, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness), alcohol attitudes, alcohol motivations (social, coping, enhancement, and conformity), and alcohol social norms (typical students, friends, closest friends, and parents) were administered at Time 1. Drinker type (nondrinkers, moderate drinkers, or binge drinkers) was assessed one month later.ResultsDiscriminant function analyses revealed that the set of measures statistically distinguished among the three drinker types. The first function was significant and yielded high loadings for attitudes, social motives, enhancement motives, coping motives, closest friend norms, and friend norms for both genders. Model classification accuracy was 73% for the male and 67% female samples. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) compared mean differences in a 2 (gender: males or females) × 3 (drinker type: nondrinkers, moderate drinkers, or binge drinkers) design. Measures systematically differing across all pairwise comparisons of the three drinker types, starting from the strongest effect (eta-squared), were as follows: alcohol attitudes, social motives, enhancement motives, closest friend norms, friend norms, coping motives, sensation seeking, and extraversion.ConclusionsAttitude, motivation, and norm variables tended to be more important than personality in distinguishing drinker types. Considering the malleability of attitudes and belief motivations, the risk variables of alcohol attitudes, social motives, and enhancement motives identified in this research warrant consideration in prevention and campaign efforts targeting problematic drinking.     

Impact of positive and anxious mood on implicit alcohol-related cognitions in internally motivated undergraduate drinkers

We explored the impact of musically induced positive and anxious mood on the implicit alcohol-related cognitions of 48 undergraduate students who drink either to enhance positive mood states (EM) or to cope with anxiety (CM-anxiety). Participants completed a post-mood induction computerized alcohol Stroop task that taps implicit alcohol-related cognitions. As hypothesized, CM-anxiety participants in the anxious (but not those in the positive) mood condition showed longer colour-naming latencies for alcohol (vs. non-alcohol) targets (i.e., an attentional bias toward alcohol-related stimuli). Also conforming to expectation was the finding that EM participants in the positive (but not those in the anxious) mood condition displayed longer colour-naming latencies for (i.e., an attentional bias toward) alcohol (vs. non-alcohol) target words.     

Negative mood,implicit alcohol-related memory,and alcohol use in young adults: The moderating effect of alcohol expectancy

ObjectiveAlcohol-related implicit (preconscious) cognitive processes are established and unique predictors of alcohol use, but most research in this area has focused on alcohol-related implicit cognition and anxiety. This study extends this work into the area of depressed mood by testing a cognitive model that combines traditional explicit (conscious and considered) beliefs, implicit alcohol-related memory associations (AMAs), and self-reported drinking behavior.MethodUsing a sample of 106 university students, depressed mood was manipulated using a musical mood induction procedure immediately prior to completion of implicit then explicit alcohol-related cognition measures. A bootstrapped two-group (weak/strong expectancies of negative affect and tension reduction) structural equation model was used to examine how mood changes and alcohol-related memory associations varied across groups.ResultsExpectancies of negative affect moderated the association of depressed mood and AMAs, but there was no such association for tension reduction expectancy.ConclusionSubtle mood changes may unconsciously trigger alcohol-related memories in vulnerable individuals. Results have implications for addressing subtle fluctuations in depressed mood among young adults at risk of alcohol problems.