Alcohol attentional bias as a predictor of alcohol abusers' treatment outcome.
Alcohol abusers' and non-abusers' attentional distraction for alcohol-related, concern-related, and neutral stimuli was assessed with the emotional Stroop paradigm. Alcohol abusers (n=14) were tested on admission to inpatient treatment and immediately before discharge, 4 weeks later; non-abusers (n=16) were also tested twice, with a 4-week intervening interval. Alcohol abusers were assessed for alcohol use 3 months after discharge. Unlike control participants and alcohol abusers whose treatment was successful, alcohol abusers whose treatment was unsuccessful (who relapsed or did not maintain post-discharge outpatient contact) had a significant increase in attentional distraction for alcohol stimuli during the 4 weeks of inpatient treatment. Compared to control participants and alcohol abusers who completed the 4 weeks of treatment, those who did not complete treatment (n=9) were highly distracted by concern-related stimuli at treatment admission. The results have implications for understanding the cognitive and motivational processes underlying successful treatment for alcohol abuse.
Cox
W Miles
WM
University of Wales, Bangor, Bangor, Wales, UK. m.cox@bangor.ac.uk
Hogan
Lee M
LM
Kristian
Marc R
MR
Race
Julian H
JH
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011930:Reaction Time; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires