Acute rewarding and disinhibiting effects of alcohol as indicators of drinking habits
- PDF / 437,927 Bytes
- 11 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 36 Downloads / 147 Views
ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
Acute rewarding and disinhibiting effects of alcohol as indicators of drinking habits Holley C. Allen 1 & Jessica Weafer 1 & Michael J. Wesley 1 & Mark T. Fillmore 1 Received: 26 March 2020 / Accepted: 21 September 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Rationale Laboratory studies have reliably shown that heightened sensitivity to the rewarding effects of alcohol is associated with heavier drinking patterns. More recently, there has been research to suggest that heightened sensitivity to the disinhibiting effects of alcohol might also contribute to drinking habits. Most research on the acute effects of alcohol has focused on drinking magnitudes averaged across participants with little attention paid to how individual differences influence alcohol abuse potential. In large part, this is due to limited sample sizes in previous laboratory studies. Objectives This study overcomes previous limitations by testing the degree to which individual differences in acute sensitivity and tolerance to the rewarding and disinhibiting effects of alcohol relate to drinking behavior in a large sample size. Methods Data from six laboratory studies were aggregated to comprise a sample of 181 adults. Participants’ level of “liking” (the effects of alcohol) and disinhibition were assessed following 0.65 g/kg alcohol once during the ascending limb of the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) curve and again at the same BAC during the descending limb of the curve. The measures were also assessed following placebo. Results Alcohol increased ratings of liking and behavioral disinhibition. Heavier drinking was associated with heightened sensitivity to liking on the ascending limb. Additionally, those who showed reduced acute tolerance to both disinhibition and liking were also heavier drinkers. Conclusions These data suggest that individual variability in liking the effects of alcohol and persistent disinhibition are key indicators of drinking habits. Keywords Individual variability . Alcohol . Reward . Disinhibition . Sensitivity . Tolerance . Go/no-go task
Introduction Traditional theories regarding the addictive properties of alcohol focused primarily on alcohol’s positive or rewarding effects (Di Chiara et al. 1996; Koob 2003; Robinson and Berridge 1993). Pre-clinical studies and studies in humans have demonstrated that, after a small dose of alcohol, animals and humans are “primed” to consume greater amounts (de Wit and Chutuape 1993; Fillmore and Rush 2001; Fillmore 2001; Ludwig et al. 1974). This priming effect is thought to reflect alcohol’s action on reward mechanisms whereby the positive subjective effects of alcohol reinforce additional consumption
* Mark T. Fillmore [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA
(Gilman et al. 2008; Koob and Le Moal 1997; Robinson and Berridge 1993; Stewart et al. 1984). Research suggests that these reinforcing effects are sufficient to prompt overconsumption for some drinkers, particu
Data Loading...
