title: Attentional bias in adults with cannabis use disorders.
abstract: There has been modest examination of attentional bias in individuals with cannabis use disorders. Clinical implications of this work are directly relevant to better informing extant evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders (e.g., relapse prevention) and/or developing novel interventions. The overarching aim of this investigation was to examine a novel attentional bias task in adults with cannabis use disorders. Participants were comprised of 25 adults (8 women: M age = 31, SD = 6.8; range = 22-45) with cannabis use disorders (n = 12) and controls (n = 13) without any current (past month) psychopathology. Relative to controls, adults with cannabis use disorders had greater attentional bias scores. These differences were present only at the 125-ms probe time, where the cannabis use disorders group showed greater attentional bias to cannabis cues than the control group (adjusted p = .001, cannabis use disorders mean = 59.9, control mean = -24.8, Cohen's d-effect size for 125 ms = 1.03). The cannabis use disorders group also reported significantly greater perceived stress and post-task stress scores than the control group, but stress was not related to attentional bias. This study informs understanding of the influence of cannabis cues on visual detection and reaction time under different cue-target onset times, as attentional bias was most prevalent under time pressure to detect the probe.
authors.affiliation: a Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addiction , Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston , Houston , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Anka A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Vujanovic
authors.affiliation: a Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addiction , Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston , Houston , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Margaret C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wardle
authors.affiliation: a Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addiction , Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston , Houston , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Shijing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: a Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addiction , Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston , Houston , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Nadeeka R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: a Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addiction , Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston , Houston , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Lane
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000070379:Attentional Bias; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cannabis; attentional bias; experimental task; marijuana