Comments on an article by A. Spruyt et al. (see record [rid]2012-18468-001[/rid]). Spruyt et al. report an interesting study in which they compared an alcohol approach-bias, as measured with the Relevant-feature Stimulus Response Compatibility task (R-SRC) in 40 abstaining alcohol-dependent patients and 40 non-dependent controls. The authors discuss the relationship of these findings with our training results, in which alcohol-dependent patients trained to avoid alcohol did better at a 1-year follow-up. In conclusion, the evidence does not support the idea that the induction of an avoidance bias is likely to be harmful in alcoholic patients: the study of Spruyt et al. does not allow conclusions regarding causality, and a recent training study in fact showed that a relative increase in avoidance mediated the beneficial effects of avoidance training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
CITATION STYLE
Wiers, R. W., Gladwin, T. E., & Rinck, M. (2013). Should We Train Alcohol-Dependent Patients to Avoid Alcohol? Frontiers in Psychiatry, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00033
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