Cognitive Changes After Alcohol Cue Exposure

Abstract

A study was conducted to examine cognitive changes in alcoholics and nonalcoholics after alcohol cue exposure. Forty-nine alcoholics in treatment and 26 nonalcoholics recruited from the community were exposed to a neutral stimulus and to their favorite alcoholic beverage. They held and sniffed the beverage but were not allowed to consume it. Results indicated that both alcoholic and nonalcoholic subjects showed the following changes after alcohol cue exposure: increased desire to drink, increased expectations of pleasant alcohol effects, decreased expectations of arousal, and decreased expectations of behavioral impairment from drinking. Alcoholic subjects responded to alcohol cues with reports of increased physical symptoms, decreased confidence about coping with future temptation, and increased guilt. These results are consistent with Marlatt's hypothesis that an alcoholic in a high-risk relapse situation experiences an increase in positive outcome expectations and a decrease in self-efficacy. The results are also consistent with a respondent conditioning model of craving. © 1987 American Psychological Association.