Variants of the P3 event-related potential operate as indicators of distinct mechanisms contributing to problematic alcohol use

Considerable research has linked relative reduction in the amplitude of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) during cognitive task performance (i.e., Target-P3) with increased risk of alcohol-related problems. A separate literature indicates that a relative increase in the amplitude of the P3 elicited by cues signaling alcohol availability (i.e., ACR-P3) also is associated with alcohol use and problems. To date, no research has integrated these seemingly discrepant findings. Here, we aimed to demonstrate that P3 amplitudes elicited in different task contexts reflect distinct domains of functioning relevant to problematic alcohol involvement (PAI), and therefore can inform heterogeneity in the etiology of PAI. 156 emerging adults (61% women; 88% White/Non-Hispanic) completed a mental rotation task and a picture-viewing task while ERPs were recorded. Participants also completed questionnaire measures of trait disinhibition, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Findings from regression analyses indicated that (a) Target-P3 was negatively associated and ACR-P3 was positively associated with a PAI latent variable; (b) the two P3s accounted for unique variance in PAI, beyond that accounted for by recent drinking; and (c) the association between Target-P3 and PAI-but not ACR-P3 and PAI-was statistically mediated by trait disinhibition. The present findings highlight the unique contributions of distinct functional domains associated with disinhibition and incentive salience in the etiology of PAI. Moreover, findings are consistent with a nuanced understanding of the P3 ERP, whereby its specific meaning varies according to the task context in which it is elicited.

Predictive utility of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) response to alcohol cues for ecologically assessed alcohol craving and use

Neural measures of alcohol cue incentive salience have been associated with retrospective reports of riskier alcohol use behaviour and subjective response profiles. This study tested whether the P3 event-related potential (ERP) elicited by alcohol-related cues (ACR-P3) can forecast alcohol use and craving during real-world drinking episodes. Participants (N = 262; Mage  = 19.53; 56% female) completed a laboratory task in which they viewed images of everyday objects (Neutral), non-alcohol drinks (NonAlc) and alcohol beverages (Alc) while EEG was recorded and then completed a 21-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) protocol in which they recorded alcohol craving and consumption. Anthropometrics were used to derive estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC) throughout drinking episodes. Multilevel modelling indicated positive associations between P3 amplitudes elicited by all stimuli and within-episode alcohol use measures (e.g., eBAC, cumulative drinks). Focal follow-up analyses indicated a positive association between AlcP3 amplitude and eBAC within episodes: Larger AlcP3 was associated with a steeper rise in eBAC. This association was robust to controlling for the association between NonAlcP3 and eBAC. AlcP3 also was positively associated with episode-level measures (e.g., max drinks, max eBAC). There were no associations between any P3 variables and EMA-based craving measures. Thus, individual differences in neural measures of alcohol cue incentive salience appear to predict the speed and intensity of alcohol consumption but not reports of craving during real-world alcohol use episodes.

Retrospective self-reports of sensitivity to the effects of alcohol: Trait-like stability and concomitant changes with alcohol involvement

OBJECTIVE

Lower sensitivity to the acute effects of alcohol is known to confer risk for the development of alcohol use disorder. Alcohol sensitivity, or level of response to alcohol's subjective effects, is heritable but also can change as a result of persistent alcohol exposure (i.e., acquired tolerance). Here, we examined how changes over time in four indices of alcohol involvement affected scores on two validated, retrospective self-report measures of alcohol response-the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) form and the Alcohol Sensitivity Questionnaire (ASQ)-in a sample of emerging adult drinkers.

METHOD

Participants (N = 173; Mage = 19.5 years; 60% assigned female at birth) completed the ASQ, SRE, and measures of alcohol use and problems at two time points separated by a median of 0.77 years (range: 0.30-2.54 years).

RESULTS

Multiple linear regression showed that increases in drinking over this period accounted for increases in SRE and ASQ scores (i.e., in reported numbers of drinks needed to experience subjective effects of alcohol). Increased drinking accounted for more variance in the number of drinks needed to experience lighter drinking versus heavier drinking effects, and increases in the number of drinks consumed per occasion had a larger effect than did changes in total numbers of drinks consumed, number of binge-drinking occasions, or drinking-related problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that both SRE and ASQ capture some stable, trait-like variability in alcohol response as well as some state-dependent, within-person variability in alcohol response acquired through increases in alcohol involvement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Drinking alcohol by mid-adolescence is related to reduced reward reactivity: Novel evidence of positive valence system alterations in early initiating female youth

Initiation of alcohol use at younger ages is prognostic of later drinking problems. Reward system dysfunction is theorized to contribute to early initiation and escalation of drinking, but existing evidence supports both hyposensitivity and hypersensitivity as risk-markers; research employing effective indices of reward processing is needed for clarification. The reward positivity (RewP) is a well-established neurophysiological index of hedonic "liking," an important aspect of reward processing. Adult research has yielded conflicting findings, with different studies reporting reduced, enhanced, or null associations of RewP with engagement in or risk for harmful alcohol use. No study has examined relations between RewP and multiple indices of drinking in youth. Here, we examined how RewP measured in a gain/loss feedback task related to self-reported drinking initiation and past-month drinking, when accounting for age along with depression and externalizing symptoms, in 250 mid-adolescent females. Analyses showed that (1) compared to not-yet drinkers, adolescents endorsing drinking initiation responded less strongly to monetary gain (RewP) but not loss feedback (FN), and (2) past-month drinking was unrelated to both RewP and FN magnitude. These findings provide evidence for reduced hedonic "liking" as a concomitant of early drinking initiation in adolescent females and warrant further research with mixed-sex adolescent samples exhibiting greater drinking variability.

Default categorization of outgroup faces and the other race effect: Commentary on the special issue

This commentary addresses how studies examining the neurophysiological correlates of racial categorization can provide insight into the neurocognitive mechanisms of the other-race effect in recognition memory. Several articles in the special issue describe how event-related potentials (ERPs) have been used to examine processing of faces that vary according to race, some of which have concluded that larger ERP amplitudes elicited by other-race (relative to own-race) faces indicates less efficient visual processing of other-race faces. I describe findings from ERP studies of race categorization that suggest an alternative interpretation-that other-race faces elicit stronger categorization, which impedes individuation of other-race faces. Suggestions for future research are offered.

Alcohol craving in the natural environment: Moderating roles of cue exposure, drinking, and alcohol sensitivity

Effects of cue exposure and alcohol consumption (e.g., priming doses) on craving for alcohol have been examined in largely separate literature, limiting what is known about their potential interaction. Individuals with low alcohol sensitivity, a known risk factor for alcohol use disorder (AUD), exhibit stronger cue-elicited craving than their higher-sensitivity (HS) peers in both laboratory and real-world contexts. Here, underage drinkers (N = 155) completed a 21-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) protocol in which they recorded exposure to alcohol cues and levels of craving during both nondrinking and postdrinking moments. Multilevel modeling detected a significant interaction of cue exposure and postdrinking status on craving. Cue-induced craving was increased in postdrinking moments compared to nondrinking moments. Contrary to prediction, cue-elicited increase in craving during nondrinking moments was stronger in participants reporting higher sensitivity to alcohol. In the presence of cues, lower sensitivity was robustly related to craving intensity in the postdrinking state but unrelated to craving during nondrinking moments. Craving during drinking episodes in the natural environment is magnified by the presence of alcohol cues, potentially contributing to the maintenance or acceleration of drinking episodes. Moreover, lower-sensitivity drinkers may be particularly susceptible to the combined effects of cue exposure and postdrinking status on alcohol craving. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Acute sensitization of the P3 event-related potential response to beverage images and the risk for alcohol use disorder

Previous research suggests the amplitude of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) response reflects the incentive value of the eliciting stimulus, and that individuals with trait-like lower sensitivity (LS) to the acute effects of alcohol, a potent risk factor for alcohol use disorder (AUD), tend to show exaggerated P3 ERP responses to alcohol beverage cues (compared to their peers with higher sensitivity; HS). No prior research has examined trajectories of the cue-elicited P3 response across repeated trials of nonreinforced cue presentations. Characterizing these trajectories can be informative as to potential mechanisms linking LS with increased AUD risk. Here, we tested whether individual differences in alcohol sensitivity are associated with different trial-by-trial trajectories of the P3 elicited by alcohol and nonalcohol reward cues (infrequent oddball/target stimuli) using a large sample of emerging adults (M _age = 19.53; N = 287; 55% female; 86% White; 90% right-handed) stratified for alcohol sensitivity. Multilevel models adjusted for age, sex, handedness, and alcohol use indicated that: (i) the P3 response to alcohol and nonalcohol reward cues alike sensitized (i.e., increased) across trials; (ii) across the task, the P3 response to alcohol cues was larger for the LS than the HS phenotype; and (iii) the P3 difference score (alcohol - nonalcohol) was larger for the LS than HS phenotype only across the first half of task. Findings suggest that whereas incentive value attribution may be a mechanism for alcohol cue-triggered attentional biases for both LS and HS individuals, LS individuals more consistently over-attribute incentive value to alcohol cues.

Immediate and delayed effects of everyday racial discrimination on mental health among Black college students: A mixed-methods approach

Experiences of racial discrimination significantly contribute to both mental and physical health outcomes. In this mixed-methods study, we examine both the immediate and delayed effect of discrimination experienced in daily life. Black students at a predominantly White university reported instances of racial discrimination, affect, anxiety, and depression several times per day over 4 weeks ( N = 114); this was followed by qualitative focus groups ( N = 25). Reporting an instance of discrimination corresponded with an acute decline in psychological wellbeing (higher negative affect, anxiety, and depression), consistent with previous work. However, this effect did not carry forward to later assessments during the same day or the following day as expected. Instead, positive affect temporarily increased in the hours following experiences of discrimination. Qualitative focus groups revealed social support, emotional reflection and processing, and feelings of taking action as important factors contributing to this bump in positive affect.

Changes in affect and alcohol craving during naturally occurring drinking episodes: The role of day-level drinking motives

Day-level drinking motives are associated with intensity of drinking and occurrence of negative consequences. However, little is known about how day-level drinking motives relate to alcohol craving, an approach-oriented motivational state proximal to continued drinking. This study tested whether day-level (and between-person) drinking motives were associated with craving during drinking episodes and whether this effect varied by drinking-induced changes in negative/positive affect (PA). Emerging adults (N = 114) took part in up to two waves of 21-day ecological momentary assessments. Participants reported positive/negative affect (NA) prior to and during drinking episodes, drinking motives at beginning of episodes, and craving during all drink reports. Analyses tested whether day-level and between-person (aggregated) drinking motives were associated with heightened craving and whether any effects on craving were moderated by drinking-induced changes in affect. A significant interaction emerged for day-level coping by negative affect, such that higher-than-average coping was associated with less drinking-induced craving when negative affect decreased relative to predrinking levels. However, interactions of between-person coping by negative and positive affect also emerged, such that higher person-level coping was associated with more drinking-induced craving when negative affect and positive affect increased. Day-level and between-person conformity motives by negative affect interactions were also detected, such that higher day-level and between-person conformity motives were associated with more drinking-induced craving when negative affect decreased. Relations between day-level motivation and craving may be sensitive to changes in negative/positive affect while drinking. Future research is needed to differentiate mechanisms through which person-level versus day-level motives relate to craving. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The thrill of victory: Savoring positive affect, psychophysiological reward processing, and symptoms of depression

Depression is characterized by a pattern of maladaptive emotion regulation. Recently, researchers have begun to focus on associations between depression and two positive affect regulation strategies: savoring and dampening. Savoring, or upregulation of positive affect, is positively associated with well-being and negatively associated with depression, whereas dampening, or downregulation of positive affect, is positively associated with depression, anhedonia, and negative affect. To date, no research has examined whether savoring or dampening can affect neurophysiological reactivity to reward, which previous research has shown is associated with symptoms of depression. Here, we examined associations between psychophysiological reward processing-primarily captured by the Reward Positivity (RewP), an event-related potential (ERP) deflection elicited by feedback indicating reward (vs. nonreward)-positive affect regulation strategies, and symptoms of depression. One hundred undergraduates completed questionnaires assessing affect, emotion regulation, and depressive symptoms and completed a computerized guessing task, once before and again after being randomly assigned to emotion-regulation strategy conditions. Results indicate that (a) the relationship between RewP amplitude and depressive symptoms may, in part, depend upon positive affect regulation strategies and (b) the RewP elicited by reward appears sensitive to a savoring intervention. These findings suggest that mitigating depressive symptoms in emerging adults may depend on both top-down (i.e., savoring) and bottom-up (i.e., RewP) forms of positive affect regulation and have important implications for clinical prevention and intervention efforts for depressive symptoms and disorder. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Behavioral response bias and event-related brain potentials implicate elevated incentive salience attribution to alcohol cues in emerging adults with lower sensitivity to alcohol

AIMS

This study used a behavioral approach-avoidance task including images of alcoholic beverages to test whether low sensitivity to alcohol (LS) is a phenotypical marker of a dispositional propensity to attribute bottom-up incentive value to naturally conditioned alcohol cues.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Experimental study with a measured individual difference variable at a university psychology laboratory in Missouri, MO, USA. Participants were 178 emerging adults (aged 18-20 years) varying in self-reported sensitivity to alcohol's acute effects.

MEASUREMENTS

Participants completed the alcohol approach-avoidance task while behavior (response time; RT) and the electroencephalogram (EEG) were recorded. Stimulus-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) provided indices of integrated (top-down and bottom-up) stimulus incentive value (P3 amplitude) and conflict between top-down task demands and bottom-up response propensities (N450 amplitude).

FINDINGS

Linear mixed models showed faster RT for 'alcohol-approach' relative to 'alcohol-avoid' trials for lower-sensitivity (LS) [mean_D  ± standard error_D (M_D  ± SE_D ) = 29.51 ± 9.74 ms, t₍₃₂₈₎  = 3.03, P = 0.003] but not higher-sensitivity (HS) individuals (M_D  ± SE_D  = 2.27 ± 9.33 ms, t₍₃₂₈₎  = 0.243, P = 0.808). There was enhanced N450 amplitude (response conflict) for alcohol-avoid relative to alcohol-approach trials for LS participants (M_D  ± SE_D  = 0.811 ± 0.198 μV, Z = 4.108, P < 0.001) and enhanced N450 amplitude for alcohol-approach relative to alcohol-avoid for HS participants (M_D  ± SE_D  = 0.419 ± 0.188 μV, Z = 2.235, P = 0.025). There was also enhanced P3 amplitude for alcohol-approach relative to alcohol-avoid for LS (M_D  ± SE_D  = 0.825 ± 0.204 μV, Z = 4.045, P < 0.001) but not HS (M_D  ± SE_D  = 0.013 ± 0.194 μV, Z = 0.068, P = 0.946).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from a human laboratory study appear to support the notion that low sensitivity to alcohol indexes a propensity to attribute bottom-up incentive value to naturally conditioned alcohol cues.

Differential brain responses to alcohol-related and natural rewards are associated with alcohol use and problems: Evidence for reward dysregulation

Multiple theoretical perspectives posit that drug use leads to biased valuation of drug-related reward, at the expense of naturally occurring rewarding activities (i.e., reward dysregulation). Recent research suggests that the comparative balance of drug-related and nondrug-related reward valuation is a powerful determinant of substance misuse and addiction. We examined differential neurophysiological responses-indexed with the P3 component of the event-related potential (ERP)-elicited by visual alcohol cues and cues depicting natural reward as a neurobiological indicator of problematic drinking. Nondependent, young adult drinkers (N = 143, aged 18-30 years) completed questionnaire measures assessing alcohol use and problems, and viewed alcohol cues (pictures of alcoholic beverages), high-arousing natural reward cues (erotica, adventure scenes), nonalcoholic beverage cues, and neutral scenes (e.g., household items) while ERPs were recorded. When examined separately, associations of P3-ERP reactivity to alcohol cues and natural reward cues with alcohol use and problems were weak. However, differential P3 response to the two types of cues (i.e., reward dysregulation P3) showed consistent and robust associations with all indices of alcohol use and problems and differentiated high-risk from lower-risk drinkers. The current results support the idea that the differential incentive-motivational value of alcohol, relative to naturally rewarding activities, is associated with increased risk for substance misuse and dependence, and highlight a novel neurophysiological indicator-the reward dysregulation P3-of this differential reward valuation.

Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) elicited by alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage pictures

Addiction researchers are interested in the ability of neural signals, like the P3 component of the ERP, to index individual differences in liability factors like motivational reactivity to alcohol/drug cues. The reliability of these measures directly impacts their ability to index individual differences, yet little attention has been paid to their psychometric properties. The present study fills this gap by examining within-session internal consistency reliability (ICR) and between-session test-retest reliability (TRR) of the P3 amplitude elicited by images of alcoholic beverages (Alcohol Cue P3) and non-alcoholic drinks (NADrink Cue P3) as well as the difference between them, which isolates alcohol cue-specific reactivity in the P3 (ACR-P3). Analyses drew on data from a large sample of alcohol-experienced emerging adults (session 1 N = 211, 55% female, aged 18-20 yr; session 2 N = 98, 66% female, aged 19-21 yr). Evaluated against domain-general thresholds, ICR was excellent (M ± SD; r= 0.902 ± 0.030) and TRR was fair (r = 0.706 ± 0.020) for Alcohol Cue P3 and NADrink Cue P3, whereas for ACR-P3, ICR and TRR were poor (r = 0.370 ± 0.071; r = 0.201 ± 0.042). These findings indicate that individual differences in the P3 elicited by cues for ingested liquid rewards are highly reliable and substantially stable over 8-10 months. Individual differences in alcohol cue-specific P3 reactivity were less reliable and less stable. The conditions under which alcohol/drug cue-specific reactivity in neural signals is adequately reliable and stable remain to be discovered.

Enhanced conditioned "liking" of novel visual cues paired with alcohol or non-alcohol beverage container images among individuals at higher risk for alcohol use disorder

RATIONALE/OBJECTIVE

This study used an evaluative conditioning (EC) procedure to assess the affective properties of a CS for ingested drug reward in humans. Specifically, the study tested whether the evaluative response ("liking"/"disliking") to an arbitrary visual stimulus ("CS₂," e.g., a purple hexagon) could be changed through pairings with an alcohol or non-alcohol beverage cue ("CS₁," e.g., a full wine glass, a juice box), which is ostensibly a conditioned visual predictive stimulus for alcohol or non-alcohol liquid reward, respectively.

METHODS

Participants (N = 369, 18-23 years, 66% female, 79% white, 21% reporting no alcohol use ever or in the past year) received 24 CS₁ pairings with each CS₂. CS₂ and CS₁ evaluations were assessed pre- and post-conditioning.

RESULTS

Alcohol and non-alcohol CS₂ "liking" correlated with alcohol use. "Liking" of the alcohol but not non-alcohol CS₁ also correlated with alcohol use. Alcohol CS₁ "liking" also correlated with alcohol and non-alcohol CS₂ 'liking," whereas non-alcohol CS₁ 'liking" correlated with non-alcohol but not alcohol CS₂ "liking."

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, findings support the idea that drug-related visual stimuli acquire appetitive (hedonic and/or incentive) properties as a function of individual differences in drug use, which entail individual differences in exposure to the conditioning effects of addictive substances like alcohol. Findings also suggest a link between drug use and the propensity to attribute affective/motivational significance to reward-predictive cues in general.

Acute effect of alcohol on working memory updating

AIMS

To examine the acute effects of alcohol on working memory (WM) updating, including potential variation across the ascending limb (AL) and descending limb (DL) of the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) time-course.

DESIGN

A two-session experiment in which participants were randomly assigned to one of three beverage conditions [alcohol (males: 0.80 g/kg; females: 0.72 g/kg), active placebo (0.04 g/kg) or non-alcohol control (tonic)] and one of two BAC limb testing conditions (AL and DL or DL-only) for the second session, yielding a 3 (beverage) × 2 (time-points tested) × 3 (time-point) mixed factorial design with repeated measures on the latter factor. One of the repeated assessments is 'missing by design' in the DL-only condition.

SETTING

A psychology laboratory at the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, MO, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

Two hundred thirty-one community-dwelling young adults (51% female; aged 21-34 years) recruited from Columbia, MO, USA, tested between 2011 and 2013.

MEASUREMENTS

Latent WM updating performance as indexed by shared variance in accuracy on three WM updating tasks (letter memory, keep track, spatial 2-back) at three time-points.

FINDINGS

Multi-group modeling of latent WM updating indicated that performance among participants who consumed placebo or control beverages improved during the second session at time-points corresponding to AL (∆ from baseline in latent mean ± standard error (SE) + 0.5 ± 0.01, P < 0.001) and DL (+ 0.08 ± 0.01, P < 0.001). Alcohol consumption did not impair WM updating (∆ from baseline in latent mean ± SE, at AL: + 0.01 ± 0.01, P = 0.56; at DL: + 0.05 ± 0.01, P < 0.001), but attenuated performance improvements (equality of latent means across beverage groups at AL or DL: Δχ2(1)  ≥ 7.53, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Acute alcohol-induced impairment in working memory updating may be limited, but dampening of practice effects by alcohol could interfere with the completion of novel, unpracticed tasks.

A Functional Coupling of Brain and Behavior During Social Categorization of Faces

Considerable research has focused on how people derive information about others' social category memberships from their faces. Theoretical models posit that early extraction of task-relevant information from a face should determine the efficiency with which that face is categorized, but evidence supporting this idea has been elusive. Here, we used a novel trial-level data analytic approach to examine the relationship between two event-related potential components-the P2, indexing early attention to category-relevant information, and the P3, indexing stimulus evaluation-and the speed of overt categorization judgments. As predicted, a larger face-elicited P2 on a particular trial was associated with faster overt race or gender categorization of that face. Moreover, this association was mediated by P3 latency, indicating that extraction of more category-relevant information early in processing facilitated stimulus evaluation. These findings support continuous flow models of information processing and the long-theorized functional significance of face-elicited neurophysiological responses for social categorization.

Neurobiology and the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology: progress toward ontogenetically informed and clinically useful nosology

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirical structural model of psychological symptoms formulated to improve the reliability and validity of clinical assessment. Neurobiology can inform assessments of early risk and intervention strategies, and the HiTOP model has greater potential to interface with neurobiological measures than traditional categorical diagnoses given its enhanced reliability. However, one complication is that observed biological correlates of clinical symptoms can reflect various factors, ranging from dispositional risk to consequences of psychopathology. In this paper, we argue that the HiTOP model provides an optimized framework for conducting research on the biological correlates of psychopathology from an ontogenetic perspective that distinguishes among indicators of liability, current symptoms, and consequences of illness. Through this approach, neurobiological research can contribute more effectively to identifying individuals at high dispositional risk, indexing treatment-related gains, and monitoring the consequences of mental illness, consistent with the aims of the HiTOP framework.


Transfer of incentive salience from a first-order alcohol cue to a novel second-order alcohol cue among individuals at risk for alcohol use disorder: electrophysiological evidence

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

In susceptible individuals, cues associated with drug use are theorized to take on incentive-motivational properties, including the ability to reinforce higher-order, drug-related associative learning. This study aimed to test this prediction among people varying in risk for alcohol use disorder.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Repeated-measures experiment with a measured individual difference variable at a University psychology laboratory in Missouri, USA. One hundred and six young adults (96 contributed complete data) were pre-selected to represent the upper and lower quartiles of self-reported sensitivity to alcohol's acute effects.

MEASUREMENTS

Participants completed a second-order Pavlovian conditioning paradigm in which an initially neutral visual cue (second-order conditional stimulus; CS₂ ) predicted onset of an olfactory cue (first-order conditional stimulus; CS₁ ). Olfactory cues were isolated from alcoholic beverages, sweets and non-comestible substances, each presumed to have a natural history of first-order conditioning. Event-related potential responses to the CS₂ across its conditioning and extinction, and to the CS₁ , provided neurophysiological indices of incentive salience (IS).

FINDINGS

The IS of the alcohol CS₁ was higher among participants low in alcohol sensitivity (LS), relative to their higher-sensitivity (HS) peers. The IS of the CS₂ paired with the alcohol CS₁ increased across the CS₂ conditioning phase among LS but not HS participants. Also, LS (but not HS) individuals also experienced increases in alcohol craving following alcohol CS₁ exposure, and this change was correlated with increases in the IS of the CS₂ paired with the alcohol CS₁ .

CONCLUSIONS

Alcoholic beverage odor, a proximal cue for alcohol consumption, appears to reinforce conditioning of neurophysiological responses to a novel cue among low alcohol sensitivity (LS) individuals but not high alcohol sensitivity individuals, providing the first evidence that the LS phenotype may be associated with differences in the conditioned reinforcing properties of alcohol-related cues. These findings support the idea that the LS phenotype may increase alcohol use disorder risk via susceptibility to incentive salience sensitization.

Psychological Processes Underlying Effects of Alcohol Marketing on Youth Drinking

Objective:

Evidence increasingly suggests that alcohol marketing plays a significant role in facilitating underage drinking. This article presents a review of empirical studies and relevant theoretical models proposing plausible psychological mechanisms or processes responsible for associations between alcohol-related marketing and youth drinking.

Method:

We review key psychological processes pertaining to cognitive mechanisms and social cognitive models that operate at the individual or intrapersonal level (attitude formation, expectancies) and the social or interpersonal level (personal identity, social identity, social norms). We use dominant psychological and media theories to support our statements of putative causal inferences, including the Message Interpretation Processing Model, Prototype Willingness Model, and Reinforcing Spirals Model.

Results:

Based on the evidence, we propose an integrated conceptual model that depicts relevant psychological processes as they work together in a complex chain of influence, and we highlight those constructs that have received the greatest support in the literature.

Conclusions:

The evidence to date suggests that perceptions of others’ behaviors and attitudes in relation to alcohol (social norms) may be a more potent driver of youth drinking than evaluations of drinking outcomes (expectancies). Considerably more research—especially experimental research—is needed to understand the extent to which theoretically relevant psychological processes have unique effects on adolescent and young adult drinking behavior, with the ultimate goal of identifying modifiable intervention targets to produce reductions in the initiation and maintenance of underage alcohol use.

Effects of alcohol sensitivity on alcohol-induced blackouts and passing out: An examination of the alcohol sensitivity questionnaire among underage drinkers

BACKGROUND

The role of alcohol sensitivity in the experience of blacking out and passing out has not been well established. Here, we examined the relation between individual differences in alcohol sensitivity (i.e., numbers of drinks required to experience various effects of alcohol) and reports of blacking out and passing out in the past year.

METHODS

Participants (925 healthy, underage college student drinkers) completed the Alcohol Sensitivity Questionnaire (ASQ) and reported on their past year blacking out and passing out experiences.

RESULTS

The fit of the ASQ's 2-factor structure was fair (CFI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.09) in this sample of underage drinkers. In unadjusted models, higher ASQ scores (i.e., requiring more drinks to experience effects, indicating lower alcohol sensitivity) were associated with experiencing more blackouts (IRR = 1.68 [1.31-2.15]) and passing out (IRR = 2.25 [1.59-3.18]) in the past year. After controlling for typical consumption, however, higher ASQ scores were associated with fewer past-year blackouts (IRR = 0.76 [0.60-0.98]). Total ASQ scores moderated the relationship between typical alcohol consumption and blackout occurrence (interaction IRR = 0.96 [0.93-0.98]), but not passing out occurrence (interaction IRR = 0.95 [0.89-1.01]), with the quantity of alcohol consumed more strongly associated with blackout occurrence among higher-sensitivity than lower-sensitivity drinkers.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are consistent with prior work suggesting that low sensitivity may act as a paradoxical risk factor for certain heavy drinking effects, contributing to higher levels of alcohol consumption and more frequent negative consequences while also conferring protection (relative to high-sensitivity peers) at a given level of alcohol exposure.

Using multilevel models for the analysis of event-related potentials

Multilevel modeling (MLM) is becoming increasingly accessible and popular in the analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs). In this article, we review the benefits of MLM for analyzing psychophysiological data, which often contains repeated observations within participants, and introduce some of the decision-making points in the analytic process, including how to set up the data set, specify the model, conduct hypothesis tests, and visualize the model estimates. We highlight how the use of MLM can extend the types of theoretical questions that can be answered using ERPs, including investigations of how ERPs vary meaningfully across trials within a testing session. We also address reporting practices and provide tools to calculate effect sizes and simulate power curves. Ultimately, we hope this review contributes to emerging best practices for the use of MLM with psychophysiological data.

The Tailgate Study: Differing metabolic effects of a bout of excessive eating and drinking

INTRODUCTION

Excess energy intake by spectators at a sporting event (i.e., a tailgate) might cause acute negative health effects. However, limited data exist regarding the effects of overeating and alcohol consumption on lipid metabolism and the potential to gain intrahepatic triacylglycerols (IHTG). We tested the hypothesis that overconsumption of food and alcohol would significantly increase both hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) and IHTG.

METHODS

Eighteen males (mean ± SD, age: 31.4 ± 7.3 years, BMI: 32.1 ± 5.9 kg/m²) were given alcoholic drinks to elevate blood alcohol for 5 h, while highly palatable food was presented. Blood samples were collected and DNL in TG-rich lipoproteins (TRL) was measured by GC/MS, IHTG was measured via MRS (n = 15), and substrate oxidation was measured via indirect calorimetry.

RESULTS

Subjects consumed 5087 ± 149 kcal (191 ± 25% excess of total daily energy needs including 171 ± 24 g alcohol), which increased plasma insulin, glucose, TG, and decreased NEFA (ANOVA p ≤ 0.003 for all). Both DNL and TRL-TG increased (p < 0.001), while IHTG did not change in the group as a whole (p = 0.229). Individual subject data revealed remarkably differing responses for IHTG (nine increased, five decreased, one did not change). Despite maintaining equal breath alcohol levels, subjects with IHTG elevations exhibited higher DNL, consumed 90% less alcohol (p = 0.048), tended to consume more carbohydrates, and exhibited lower whole-body fat oxidation (not significant) compared to those whose IHTG was reduced.

DISCUSSION

This study demonstrates that acute excess energy intake may have differing effects on an individual's DNL and IHTG, and dietary carbohydrate may influence DNL more than alcohol.

Frequency of Recent Binge Drinking Is Associated With Sex-Specific Cognitive Deficits: Evidence for Condition-Dependent Trait Expression in Humans

Evolutionary theory suggests that commonly found sex differences are largest in healthy populations and smaller in populations that have been exposed to stressors. We tested this idea in the context of men’s typical advantage (vs. women) in visuospatial abilities (e.g., mental rotation) and women’s typical advantage (vs. men) in social-cognitive (e.g., facial-expression decoding) abilities, as related to frequent binge drinking. Four hundred nineteen undergraduates classified as frequent or infrequent binge drinkers were assessed in these domains. Trial-level multilevel models were used to test a priori Sex × Group (binge drinking) interactions for visuospatial and social-cognitive tasks. Among infrequent binge drinkers, men’s typical advantage in visuospatial abilities and women’s typical advantage in social-cognitive abilities was confirmed. Among frequent binge drinkers, men’s advantage was reduced for one visuospatial task (Δ d = 0.29) and eliminated for another (Δ d = 0.75), and women’s advantage on the social-cognitive task was eliminated (Δ d = 0.12). Males who frequently engaged in extreme binges had exaggerated deficits on one of the visuospatial tasks, as did their female counterparts on the social-cognitive task. The results suggest sex-specific vulnerabilities associated with recent, frequent binge drinking, and support an evolutionary approach to the study of these vulnerabilities.

Female drinkers are more sensitive than male drinkers to alcohol-induced heart rate increase

The present study examined the acute effect of alcohol and its cues on autonomic and cardiovascular physiology, as indexed by changes in heart rate (HR), in a relatively large sample of healthy young adult men and women. Participants (27-31 years old, final N = 145) were administered an alcoholic beverage (n = 88; 52 women) or a placebo beverage (n = 57; 35 women) in a simulated bar. Target breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) was .08 g%. HR was recorded while participants were seated alone during an initial baseline assessment in a lab room; seated with others during preparation and administration of 2 beverages in a simulated bar; and seated alone in the lab room at ascending, peak, and descending BrAC. HR increased over time for participants in both beverage groups during beverage preparation. During beverage consumption, HR decreased over time in those who drank placebo whereas HR increased over time in those who drank alcohol, increasing at a faster rate in women compared to men. HR remained elevated at the ascending, peak, and descending limb assessments only in participants who drank alcohol with HR increasing over time at ascending BrAC in the women but not men. Sex differences in HR under alcohol were not explained by sex differences in body mass index, BrAC, recent alcohol use, or subjective stimulation. Our findings suggest that women may be more sensitive to alcohol-induced increases in HR, especially in environments where alcohol cues are abundant. This may have implications for cardiovascular risks associated with alcohol. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Explicit Categorization Goals Affect Attention-Related Processing of Race and Gender During Person Construal

Faces are categorized by gender and race very quickly, seemingly without regard to perceivers' goals or motivations, suggesting an automaticity to these judgments that has downstream consequences for evaluations, stereotypes, and social interactions. The current study investigated the extent to which early neurocognitive processes involved in the categorization of faces vary when participants' tasks goals were to categorize faces by race or by gender. In contrast to previous findings, task-related differences were found, such that differentiation in the P2 event-related potential (ERP) according to perceived gender was facilitated by having an explicit task goal of categorizing faces by gender; however, the P2 was sensitive to race regardless of task goals. Use of principal components analysis (PCA) revealed two underlying components that comprised the P2 and that were differentially sensitive to the gender and race of the faces, depending on participants' top-down task goals. Results suggest that top-down task demands facilitate discrimination of faces along the attended dimension within less than 200 ms, but that the effect of top-down task demands may not be evident when examining early ERP components that reflect more than one distinct underlying process.

Inhibition tasks are not associated with a variety of behaviors in college students

Executive functioning (EF) is defined as a set of top-down processes used in reasoning, forming goals, planning, concentrating, and inhibition. It is widely believed that these processes are critical to self-control and, therefore, that performance on behavioral task measures of EF should be associated with individual differences in everyday life outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to test this core assumption, focusing on the EF facet of inhibition. A sample of 463 undergraduates completed five laboratory inhibition tasks, along with three self-report measures of self-control and 28 self-report measures of life outcomes. Results showed that although most of the life outcome measures were associated with self-reported self-control, only one of the outcomes was associated with inhibition task performance at the latent-variable level, and this association was in the unexpected direction. Furthermore, few associations were found at the individual task level. These findings challenge the criterion validity of lab-based inhibition tasks. More generally, when considered alongside the known lack of convergent validity between inhibition tasks and self-report measures of self-control, the findings cast doubt on the task's construct validity as measures of self-control processes. Potential methodological and theoretical reasons for the poor performance of laboratory-based inhibition tasks are discussed.

Alcohol sensitivity in women after undergoing bariatric surgery: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG), the most common bariatric surgeries performed worldwide, increase the risk to develop an alcohol use disorder. This might be due, in part, to surgery-related changes in alcohol pharmacokinetics. Another risk factor, unexplored within this population, is having a reduced subjective response to alcohol's sedative effects.

OBJECTIVES

To assess whether the alcohol sensitivity questionnaire (ASQ), a simple self-report measure, could pinpoint reduced alcohol sensitivity in the bariatric population.

SETTING

University medical centers in Missouri and Illinois.

METHODS

Women who had RYGB (n = 16), SG (n = 28), or laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery (n = 11) within the last 5 years completed the ASQ for both pre- and postsurgical timeframes, and 45 of them participated in oral alcohol challenge testing postsurgery. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and subjective stimulation and sedation were measured before and for 3.5 hours after drinking.

RESULTS

In line with faster and higher peak BACs after RYGB and SG than laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery (P < .001), postsurgery ASQ scores were more reduced from presurgery scores after RYGB/SG than after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery (-2.3 ± .3 versus -1.2 ± .2; P < .05). However, despite the dramatic changes in BAC observed when ingesting alcohol after RYGB/SG surgeries, which resulted in peak BAC that were approximately 50% above the legal driving limit, a third of these women felt almost no alcohol-related sedative effects.

CONCLUSIONS

Although RYGB/SG dramatically increased sensitivity to alcohol in all participants, meaningful interindividual differences remained. The ASQ might help identify patients at increased risk to develop an alcohol use disorder after surgery.

Evidence for incentive salience sensitization as a pathway to alcohol use disorder

The incentive salience sensitization (ISS) theory of addiction holds that addictive behavior stems from the ability of drugs to progressively sensitize the brain circuitry that mediates attribution of incentive salience (IS) to reward-predictive cues and its behavioral manifestations. In this article, we establish the plausibility of ISS as an etiological pathway to alcohol use disorder (AUD). We provide a comprehensive and critical review of evidence for: (1) the ability of alcohol to sensitize the brain circuitry of IS attribution and expression; and (2) attribution of IS to alcohol-predictive cues and its sensitization in humans and non-human animals. We point out gaps in the literature and how these might be addressed. We also highlight how individuals with different alcohol subjective response phenotypes may differ in susceptibility to ISS as a pathway to AUD. Finally, we discuss important implications of this neuropsychological mechanism in AUD for psychological and pharmacological interventions attempting to attenuate alcohol craving and cue reactivity.

Electrophysiological Correlates of Racial In-group Bias in Observing Nonverbal Social Encounters

Despite evidence identifying the role of group membership in social cognition, the neural mechanisms associated with the perception and evaluation of nonverbal behaviors displayed by in-group versus out-group members remain unclear. Here, 42 white participants underwent electroencephalographic recording while observing social encounters involving dynamic displays of nonverbal behaviors by racial in-group and out-group avatar characters. Dynamic behaviors included approach and avoidance poses and expressions, followed by the participants' ratings of the avatars displaying them. Behaviorally, participants showed longer RTs when evaluating in-group approach behavior compared with other behaviors, possibly suggesting increased interest and attention devoted to processing positive social encounters with their in-group members. Analyses of ERPs revealed differential sensitivity of the N450 and late positivity components to social cues, with the former showing initial sensitivity to the presence of a humanoid avatar character at the beginning of social encounters and the latter showing sensitivity to dynamic nonverbal behaviors displayed by the avatars. Moreover, time-frequency analysis of electroencephalography data also identified suppression of beta-range power linked to the observation of dynamic nonverbal behaviors. Notably, the magnitude of these responses was modulated by the degree of behavioral racial in-group bias. This suggests that differential neural sensitivity to nonverbal cues while observing social encounters is associated with subsequent in-group bias manifested in the evaluation of such encounters. Collectively, these findings shed light on the mechanisms of racial in-group bias in social cognition and have implications for understanding factors related to successful interactions with individuals from diverse racial backgrounds.

Polygenic liability for schizophrenia predicts shifting-specific executive function deficits and tobacco use in a moderate drinking community sample

Individuals with schizophrenia have higher lifetime rates of substance use disorders than the general population, and research suggests high comorbidity rates may be partially explained by shared genetic influences related to common underlying etiology. Moreover, deficits in executive functions are thought to be central to the diagnosis of schizophrenia and are likewise associated with alcohol and tobacco use. The current study examined the associations between schizophrenia polygenic risk scores and tobacco and alcohol use and the mediation of these associations by executive function sub-domains. Results from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium's meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of schizophrenia were used to calculate polygenic risk scores in a sample of moderate drinkers. Schizophrenia risk scores were significantly associated with shifting-specific executive function deficits and tobacco use phenotypes. However, risk scores were not significantly associated with alcohol use and executive functions were not significantly associated with either tobacco or alcohol use. These findings extend previous research by suggesting that genetic risk for schizophrenia may be associated with specific sub-domains of executive function as well as smoking. The lack of a relation with alcohol use suggests genetic factors related to schizophrenia and executive functioning may not influence drinking in a non-disordered, social-drinking sample.

Blunted Reward Sensitivity and Trait Disinhibition Interact to Predict Substance Use Problems

Reward deficit models of addiction posit weaknesses in reward sensitivity to be promotive of substance dependence, while the externalizing spectrum model views substance problems as arising in large part from a general disinhibitory liability. The current study sought to integrate these perspectives by testing for separate and interactive associations of disinhibition and reward dysfunction with interview-assessed substance use disorders (SUDs). Community and college adults (N = 199) completed a scale measure of trait disinhibition and performed a gambling-feedback task yielding a neural index of reward sensitivity, the 'Reward Positivity' (RewP). Disinhibition and blunted RewP independently predicted SUDs, and also operated synergistically, such that participants - in particular, men - with high levels of disinhibition together with blunted RewP exhibited especially severe substance problems. Though limited by its cross-sectional design, this work provides new information about the interplay of disinhibition, reward processing, and gender in SUDs and suggests important directions for future research.

Interactive Effects of Naturalistic Drinking Context and Alcohol Sensitivity on Neural Alcohol Cue-Reactivity Responses

BACKGROUND

Considerable evidence indicates that a low level of subjective response to alcohol's acute effects (i.e., low sensitivity) is associated with enhanced risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Recent work suggests that the highest risk response profile consists of blunted sensitivity to alcohol's sedation-like effects, coupled with enhanced sensitivity to alcohol's stimulation-like effects (i.e., differential sensitivity). A largely separate body of work indicates that enhanced reactivity to alcohol-related cues is associated with increased AUD risk.

AIMS

The current research examined the extent to which variability in alcohol response phenotypes is associated with enhanced P3 event-related potential (ERP) responses to alcohol-related pictures (ACR-P3), and whether this reactivity varies according to depicted drinking contexts.

METHODS

Eighty young adults (aged 18 to 33 years) completed a self-report measure of alcohol sensitivity (the Alcohol Sensitivity Questionnaire) and viewed images depicting drinking in naturalistic contexts, alcohol and nonalcohol beverages in isolation (devoid of naturalistic drinking context), and neutral nonbeverage control images while ERPs were recorded.

RESULTS

Results indicated that blunted sensitivity to alcohol's sedative-like effects was differentially associated with enhanced ACR-P3 but reduced P3 reactivity to nonalcohol cues. Variation in sensitivity to alcohol's stimulant-like effects was not associated with differential ACR-P3. Contrary to predictions, these effects were not potentiated by drinking contexts.

CONCLUSIONS

The current results replicate and extend previous work linking low alcohol sensitivity with enhanced incentive salience for alcohol-related cues and suggest that cues depicting drinking contexts are less likely to differentiate high-risk from low-risk drinkers.

Mortality salience leads to greater consumption of an ostensibly alcoholic beverage on Friday versus other weekdays

OBJECTIVES

We build on findings from terror management theory to examine how non-conscious mortality concerns may lead individuals to adhere to cultural meanings yoked to discrete time periods, in this case influencing consumption of an ostensibly alcoholic beverage.

DESIGN

The study took the form of a 2 (death vs. uncertainty reminder) × 3 (Monday vs. Wednesday vs. Friday) between-subjects laboratory-based quasi-experimental design.

METHODS

A total of 210 participants (age: M = 21.92 years, SD = 5.33; 103 males and 107 females) recruited from a UK university answered either an open-ended question to prime mortality or uncertainty cognition on either a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. As part of an ostensible taste test, they then consumed as much or as little of a purportedly alcoholic drink as they desired.

RESULTS

Death reminders (vs. control topic) were found to result in more consumption of the beverage on a Friday, less consumption on a Monday, and no difference in consumption on a Wednesday.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings point to the flexible, time-contingent nature of culture-oriented defences against mortality concerns with potential implications for the efficacy of alcohol health warnings featuring mortality-related stimuli. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Death reminders can spur people to adhere to cultural scripts for behaviour in the service of maintaining existential security. Death reminders can lead people to consume alcohol (particularly for those who are low in self-esteem). What does this study add? Death reminders may lead people to adhere to temporally yoked scripts related to drinking behaviour. Specifically, death reminders led to more positive drinking attitudes and more alcohol consumed on Friday compared to Monday or Wednesday. Cultural script following may be specifically tied to non-conscious mortality awareness.

Null Effects of Game Violence, Game Difficulty, and 2D:4D Digit Ratio on Aggressive Behavior

Researchers have suggested that acute exposure to violent video games is a cause of aggressive behavior. We tested this hypothesis by using violent and nonviolent games that were closely matched, collecting a large sample, and using a single outcome. We randomly assigned 275 male undergraduates to play a first-person-shooter game modified to be either violent or less violent and hard or easy. After completing the game-play session, participants were provoked by a confederate and given an opportunity to behave aggressively. Neither game violence nor game difficulty predicted aggressive behavior. Incidentally, we found that 2D:4D digit ratio, thought to index prenatal testosterone exposure, did not predict aggressive behavior. Results do not support acute violent-game exposure and low 2D:4D ratio as causes of aggressive behavior.

Neural and behavioral effects of regulating emotional responses to errors during an implicit racial bias task

Affect regulation plays a key role in several theories of racial bias reduction. Here, we tested whether engaging in emotion regulation strategies while performing an implicit racial bias task (Weapons Identification Task; WIT) would alter neural and behavioral manifestations of bias. Participants either suppressed or reappraised in a positive light the distress associated with making errors during the WIT, while an electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. We hypothesized that engaging in emotion regulation strategies would reduce the distress associated with making errors indicative of bias, resulting in smaller error-related negativity (ERN) amplitude during errors and increased expression of racial bias. Results of within-subjects comparisons (Experiment 1) generally supported these predictions. However, when emotion regulation strategies were manipulated between subjects (Experiment 2) there was no effect of suppression or reappraisal on bias expression. Across both experiments, engaging in emotion regulation led to larger ERNs for errors occurring on Black- relative to White-primed trials. In addition, a number of significant order effects were observed, indicating important differences in the effects of engaging in emotion regulation strategies when those strategies are attempted in participants' first versus second block of trials. No such order effects were evident when a second trial block was completed with no emotion regulation instructions. Findings are discussed in terms of the need for greater specificity in experimental tests of emotion regulation on error processing and cognitive performance.

Explicit Attitudes, Working Memory Capacity, and Driving After Drinking

BACKGROUND

Attitudes toward driving after drinking are strongly predictive of drinking and driving behavior. This study tested working memory capacity (WMC) as a moderator of the association between attitudes and drinking and driving behavior. Consistent with dual process models of cognition, we hypothesized that the association between perceived danger and drinking and driving would be stronger for individuals with higher WMC.

METHODS

Participants (N = 161) enrolled in larger alcohol administration study were randomly assigned to an alcohol (n = 57), placebol (n = 52), or control (n = 52, not included) beverage condition. Past-year frequency of driving after drinking and WMC were assessed at baseline. Attitudes were assessed by asking participants to rate the perceived danger of driving at their current level of intoxication twice on the ascending limb (AL1, AL2), at peak breath alcohol concentration (BrAC), and twice on the descending limb (DL1, DL2).

RESULTS

Analyses across the BrAC curve indicated that the hypothesized interaction was observed for the alcohol but not placebo condition. Analyses for each assessment point indicated that the interaction was significant for the ascending limb and peak BrAC. In the alcohol condition, for those higher in WMC, lower perceived dangerousness was strongly associated with increased driving after drinking (AL1: incident rate ratios [IRR] = 5.87, Wald's χ²  = 12.39, p = 0.006, 95% CI [2.19, 15.75]; AL2: IRR = 8.17, Wald's χ²  = 11.39, p = 0.001, 95% CI [2.41, 27.66]; Peak: IRR = 5.11, Wald's χ²  = 9.84, p = 0.002, 95% CI [1.84, 14.16]). Associations were not significant at low WMC.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that individuals higher in WMC are more likely to act consistently with their explicit attitudes toward drinking and driving. Findings may have implications for existing drinking and driving interventions and suggest the potential for novel interventions targeting implicit associations or WMC.

Moderation of alcohol craving reactivity to drinking-related contexts by individual differences in alcohol sensitivity: An ecological investigation

Laboratory cue exposure investigations have demonstrated that, relative to drinkers who report a high sensitivity to the pharmacologic effects of alcohol, low-sensitivity (LS) drinkers show exaggerated neurocognitive and behavioral reactivity to alcohol-related stimuli. The current study extends this line of work by testing whether LS drinkers report stronger cravings for alcohol in daily life. Data were from an ecological momentary assessment study in which participants (N = 403 frequent drinkers) carried a palmtop computer for 21 days and responded to questions regarding drinking behavior, alcohol craving, mood states, and situational context. Initial analyses identified subjective states (positive and negative mood, cigarette craving) and contextual factors (bar-restaurant location, weekend, time of day, presence of friend, recent smoking) associated with elevated craving states during nondrinking moments. Effects for nearly all these craving correlates were moderated by individual differences in alcohol sensitivity, such that the associations between situational factors and current alcohol craving were larger among LS individuals (as determined by a questionnaire completed at baseline). Complementary idiographic analyses indicated that self-reported craving increased when the constellation of situational factors more closely resembled individuals' observed drinking situations. Again, this effect was moderated by alcohol sensitivity, with greater craving response increases among LS drinkers. The findings align with predictions generated from theory and laboratory cue exposure investigations and should encourage further study of craving and incentive processes in LS drinkers. (PsycINFO Database Record

Impact of exposure to alcohol marketing and subsequent drinking patterns among youth and young adults

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the impact of exposure to any form of alcohol marketing, compared to less exposure or no exposure, on alcohol consumption patterns among youth and young adults up to and including the age of 25 years (we want to be able to look at potential dose response relationships at different levels of exposure).

Alcohol effects on response inhibition: Variability across tasks and individuals

Considerable research has investigated the acute effects of alcohol on response inhibition, but a number of issues remain unresolved. Given that most studies use only a single laboratory task to assess inhibition, it is often difficult to determine whether alcohol's effects are task specific or generalize across measures of the same construct. Moreover, relatively few studies have directly compared effects of alcohol under ascending and descending blood alcohol concentrations (BACs), and those that have often failed to disentangle BAC limb effects from the effects of repeated testing. This study was intended to provide a test of alcohol's effects on behavioral inhibition using multiple laboratory measures in a relatively large sample and comparing effects under ascending and descending BAC. Young adults (N = 216) completed three commonly used inhibition tasks (Stroop, antisaccade, and stop-signal) at baseline and again 1-3 weeks later under one of three beverage conditions (alcohol, placebo or control) and one of two BAC limb conditions (ascending/descending or descending only). Findings indicated considerable specificity in alcohol's effects. Relative to control and placebo conditions, antisaccade performance suffered under both ascending and descending BAC and stop-signal reaction time (RT) suffered only under descending BAC. The Stroop RT interference effect was not affected by alcohol, though alcohol did impair response accuracy on incongruent Stroop trials. Baseline performance moderated effects of alcohol on both antisaccade accuracy and Stroop interference, suggesting the importance of individual differences. The current findings suggest that more specificity is required in characterizing acute effects of alcohol on inhibitory control. (PsycINFO Database Record

Effects of Exposure to Alcohol-Related Cues on Racial Prejudice

Abstract. Prior research ( Stepanova, Bartholow, Saults, & Friedman, 2012 ) indicates that exposure to alcohol-related cues increases expressions of racial biases. This study investigated whether such effects can be replicated with other tasks assessing racial bias and whether they stem from stereotyping or prejudice. In two experiments participants (N1 = 118; N2 = 152) were exposed to either alcohol-related or neutral advertisements, and then completed a race-priming lexical decision task (LDT, Wittenbrink, Judd, and Park, 1997) . Experiment 1 provided weak evidence that exposure to alcohol cues decreases positive attitudes toward Blacks, which was not confirmed in a high-powered replication (Experiment 2). Our findings suggest a short-lived nature (if any) of alcohol priming effects on racial bias when measured by the primed LDT.

Using trial-level data and multilevel modeling to investigate within-task change in event-related potentials

EEG data, and specifically the ERP, provide psychologists with the power to examine quickly occurring cognitive processes at the native temporal resolution at which they occur. Despite the advantages conferred by ERPs to examine processes at different points in time, ERP researchers commonly ignore the trial-to-trial temporal dimension by collapsing across trials of similar types (i.e., the signal averaging approach) because of constraints imposed by repeated measures ANOVA. Here, we present the advantages of using multilevel modeling (MLM) to examine trial-level data to investigate change in neurocognitive processes across the course of an experiment. Two examples are presented to illustrate the usefulness of this technique. The first demonstrates decreasing differentiation in N170 amplitude to faces of different races across the course of a race categorization task. The second demonstrates attenuation of the ERN as participants commit more errors within a task designed to measure implicit racial bias. Although the examples presented here are within the realm of social psychology, the use of MLM to analyze trial-level EEG data has the potential to contribute to a number of different theoretical domains within psychology.

University-Affiliated Alcohol Marketing Enhances the Incentive Salience of Alcohol Cues

We tested whether affiliating beer brands with universities enhances the incentive salience of those brands for underage drinkers. In Study 1, 128 undergraduates viewed beer cues while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Results showed that beer cues paired with in-group backgrounds (logos for students' universities) evoked an enhanced P3 ERP component, a neural index of incentive salience. This effect varied according to students' levels of identification with their university, and the amplitude of the P3 response prospectively predicted alcohol use over 1 month. In Study 2 ( N = 104), we used a naturalistic advertisement exposure to experimentally create in-group brand associations and found that this manipulation caused an increase in the incentive salience of the beer brand. These data provide the first evidence that marketing beer via affiliating it with students' universities enhances the incentive salience of the brand for underage students and that this effect has implications for their alcohol involvement.

Associations between executive functioning, affect-regulation drinking motives, and alcohol use and problems

Motivation to use alcohol to regulate positive and negative affect and deficits in cognitive control (i.e., executive functions [EFs]) have both been associated with increased alcohol involvement and alcohol-related consequences. Although dual-process models predict that affect-driven motivations and cognitive control should interact to determine alcohol involvement and alcohol-related consequences, this intersection has remained largely unexplored. The present study examined the extent to which effects of enhancement and coping drinking motives on alcohol use, heavy drinking, and alcohol-related consequences are moderated by individual differences in three theorized components of EF. We anticipated, in general, that drinking motives would more strongly predict alcohol use, heavy drinking, and alcohol-related consequences among individuals low versus high in cognitive control-EF. Participants (N = 801) completed a battery of nine EF tasks, as well as measures of drinking motives, alcohol use, heavy drinking, and alcohol-related negative consequences. A baseline structural model indicated that (a) both enhancement motives and coping motives predicted alcohol use and heavy drinking, (b) both enhancement and coping motives exerted their effects on alcohol-related consequences both directly and indirectly via alcohol use, and (c) shifting-specific abilities were modestly positively associated with heavy drinking. Most important for the aims of the study, latent variable interaction analyses failed to provide consistent evidence that better EF abilities attenuate the effects of drinking motives on alcohol use, heavy drinking, and alcohol-related consequences, as predicted. (PsycINFO Database Record

Sleeve gastrectomy surgery: when 2 alcoholic drinks are converted to 4

BACKGROUND

While it is well established that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) causes a rapid and heightened peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC), results from previous studies on the effects of sleeve gastrectomy (SG) on alcohol pharmacokinetics are conflicting. Data from 2 studies found SG did not affect BAC, whereas another study found SG caused a heightened peak BAC after alcohol ingestion. Moreover, these 3 studies estimated BAC from breathalyzers, which might not reliably estimate peak BAC.

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to evaluate (1) the effect of SG, relative to RYGB and a presurgery group, on alcohol pharmacokinetics and subjective effects, and (2) whether breathalyzers are reliable in this population.

SETTING

Single-center prospective nonrandomized trial.

METHODS

We performed alcohol challenge tests in 11 women who had SG surgery 1.9 ± .1 years ago (body mass index = 35.1 ± 6.6 kg/m²), 8 women who had RYGB surgery 2.2 ± .4 years ago (body mass index = 30.0 ± 5.2 kg/m²), and 9 women who were scheduled for bariatric surgery (body mass index = 44.1 ± 4.0 kg/m²). BACs were estimated from breath samples and measured by gas chromatography at various times after consuming approximately 2 standard drinks.

RESULTS

BAC increased faster, peak BAC was approximately 2-fold higher, and feelings of drunkenness were heightened in both SG and RYGB groups relative to the presurgery group (P values<.001). BAC estimated from breath samples underestimated BAC by 27% (standard deviation = 13%) and missed peak BACs postsurgery.

CONCLUSIONS

SG, similar to RYGB, causes marked alterations in the response to alcohol ingestion manifested by a faster and higher peak BAC. The breathalyzer is invalid to assess effects of gastric surgeries on pharmacokinetics of ingested alcohol.

Screen Violence and Youth Behavior

Violence in screen entertainment media (ie, television, film, video games, and the Internet), defined as depictions of characters (or players) trying to physically harm other characters (or players), is ubiquitous. The Workgroup on Media Violence and Violent Video Games reviewed numerous meta-analyses and other relevant research from the past 60 years, with an emphasis on violent video game research. Consistent with every major science organization review, the Workgroup found compelling evidence of short-term harmful effects, as well as evidence of long-term harmful effects. The vast majority of laboratory-based experimental studies have revealed that violent media exposure causes increased aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiologic arousal, hostile appraisals, aggressive behavior, and desensitization to violence and decreases prosocial behavior (eg, helping others) and empathy. Still, to more fully understand the potential for long-term harm from media violence exposure, the field is greatly in need of additional large-sample, high-quality, longitudinal studies that include validated measures of media violence exposure and measures of other known violence risk factors. Also, although several high-quality media violence intervention studies have been conducted, larger-scale studies with more comprehensive and longer-term assessments are needed to fully understand long-term effects and to inform the development of tools that will help to reduce problems associated with aggression and violence. The evidence that violent screen media constitutes a causal risk factor for increased aggression is compelling. Modern social-cognitive theories of social behavior provide useful frameworks for understanding how and why these effects occur.