title: An acute psychosocial stressor does not potentiate alcohol cue reactivity in non-treatment-seeking alcoholics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Relapse risk factors, such as psychological stress and alcohol cues, are often encountered together. Understanding how they interact has the potential to improve alcoholism treatments. This study was conducted to examine whether an acute psychosocial stressor enhanced alcohol cue reactivity in non-treatment-seeking alcoholics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-nine alcohol-dependent individuals (39 women) randomly received either the Trier Social Stress Test or a no-stress control condition. Stress reactivity was measured with serum adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol, mean arterial blood pressure, and subjective distress. Immediately following the stress manipulation, participants held and sniffed a neutral cue then their preferred alcoholic beverage. Cue reactivity was measured by 2 subjective measures of craving following each cue. Additionally, general craving was assessed with the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire at the beginning and end of the laboratory procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The stress manipulation showed internal validity on all measures of stress reactivity. There was not a main effect of stress nor a stress × cue interaction on either cue reactivity measure. As expected, there was a main effect of cue (alcohol > neutral cue) on both measures of cue reactivity. General craving increased during the challenge, but not differently by stress group. Magnitude of stress reactivity was not associated with magnitude of cue reactivity, and all results were independent of gender.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this well-controlled clinical laboratory study of non-treatment-seeking alcoholics, an acute psychological stressor did not make an alcohol cue a more potent urge-inducing stimulus, and stress had no effect on general alcohol craving.
authors.affiliation: Charleston Alcohol Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA. thomass@musc.edu
authors.forename: Suzanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Patrick K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Randall
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: See
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Drobes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000523:psychology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult