title: Reward and relief dimensions of temptation to drink: construct validity and role in predicting differential benefit from acamprosate and naltrexone.
abstract: Researchers have sought to distinguish between individuals whose alcohol use disorder (AUD) is maintained by drinking to relieve negative affect ('relief drinkers') and those whose AUD is maintained by the rewarding effects of alcohol ('reward drinkers'). As an opioid receptor antagonist, naltrexone may be particularly effective for reward drinkers. Acamprosate, which has been shown to down-regulate the glutamatergic system, may be particularly effective for relief drinkers. This study sought to replicate and extend prior work (PREDICT study; Glöckner-Rist et al. ) by examining dimensions of reward and relief temptation to drink and subtypes of individuals with distinct patterns of reward/relief temptation. We utilized data from two randomized clinical trials for AUD (Project MATCH, n = 1726 and COMBINE study, n = 1383). We also tested whether classes of reward/relief temptation would predict differential response to naltrexone and acamprosate in COMBINE. Results replicated prior work by identifying reward and relief temptation factors, which had excellent reliability and construct validity. Using factor mixture modeling, we identified five distinct classes of reward/relief temptation that replicated across studies. In COMBINE, we found a significant class-by-acamprosate interaction effect. Among those most likely classified in the high relief/moderate reward temptation class, individuals had better drinking outcomes if assigned to acamprosate versus placebo. We did not find a significant class-by-naltrexone interaction effect. Our study questions the orthogonal classification of drinkers into only two types (reward or relief drinkers) and adds to the body of research on moderators of acamprosate, which may inform clinical decision making in the treatment of AUD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
authors.forename: Corey R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Roos
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Witkiewitz
mesh_terms: D000077443:Acamprosate; D000328:Adult; D000427:Alcohol Deterrents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012201:Reward; D013654:Taurine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000427:Alcohol Deterrents; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D013654:Taurine; D009271:Naltrexone; D000077443:Acamprosate
keywords: Acamprosate; alcohol use disorder; naltrexone; temptation