title: The manipulation of alcohol-related interpretation biases by means of Cognitive Bias Modification--Interpretation (CBM-I).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is a large body of evidence demonstrating that alcohol abuse and misuse is characterized by alcohol-related interpretation biases (IBs). The present study tested whether alcohol-related IBs can be trained, and whether this has an effect on alcohol-related associations and drinking behavior. A newly developed alcohol Cognitive Bias Modification - Interpretation (CBM-I) training was employed. The potential moderating effect of executive control on CBM-I training effects was tested.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were hazardously male drinking students. A classical Stroop was used to assess levels of executive control. Half of the sample was trained to interpret ambiguous alcohol-related scenarios in an alcohol-related manner (alcohol training group), whereas the other half was trained to interpret ambiguous alcohol-related scenarios in a neutral manner (neutral training group). A Single Target Implicit Association Test (STIAT) was used to test whether the training would generalize to implicit alcohol-related associations (target words: alcohol, attributes: positive vs. neutral). To test the training's effect on drinking behavior, a bogus taste test and a one week follow-up measure assessing participant's real life drinking behavior were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CBM-I training was partly successful: When presented with novel ambiguous alcohol-related scenarios, participants of the alcohol training group interpreted these scenarios as more alcohol-related after the training. However, there was no reduction in alcohol-related IBs in the neutral training group. Results of the STIAT demonstrated that both training groups showed stronger positive than neutral alcohol-related associations. However, there were no between-group differences in alcohol-related associations. Moreover, the CBM-I training's effect was not moderated by levels of executive control. Finally, no group differences were found on levels of alcohol consumption (bogus taste test and at one week follow-up).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The neutral training might have been operationalized sub-optimally. A multi-session training might have resulted in stronger effects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings are the first to show that alcohol-related IBs can be trained. However, the training effect only partly generalized so more research is needed to advance our understanding of alcohol CBM-I effects.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Department of Psychology, University of Bochum, Germany. Electronic address: marcella.woud@rub.de.
authors.forename: Marcella L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Woud
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Moniek H M
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hutschemaekers
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rinck
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eni S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D001244:Association; D001288:Attention; D015982:Bias; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol-related interpretation bias; CBM-I training; Executive control; Hazardous drinkers; Implicit associations; Taste test