ABSTRACT
Craving is only one component of the mental processes that influence drinking behavior. Alcohol-related cues (ARCs) can set in motion a dynamic competition between inclinations to approach drinking and inclinations to avoid drinking. Craving can thus be integrated into a comprehensive model of decision-making in which ambivalence or conflict is a key element. The relative strength of each component of the ARC reaction can fluctuate over time as well as in response to both subjective states and environmental circumstances. Simultaneously and independently evaluating these opposing responses puts clinicians in a better position to influence the relative weight that the patient assigns to the positive and negative outcomes of alcohol consumption.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control , Behavior, Addictive/prevention & control , Cues , Motivation , Alcohol Drinking/psychology , Behavior, Addictive/psychology , HumansABSTRACT
Social drinkers were administered either an alcoholic, placebo or no-alcohol control beverage. Subjects were next informed that they were to give a self-disclosing speech about their body and physical appearance. Subjects' heart rate and videotapes of their facial expression were recorded during this instruction. Facial reactions to the stressor were analyzed using a system based on the Maximally Discriminative Facial Coding System (Izard, 1979). Subjects who were intoxicated showed significantly less negative emotion, as measured by the facial expression analysis, than those subjects consuming either the control or placebo beverage. We attribute this effect of alcohol to its actions on subjects' appraisal of anxiety-inducing information.
