| dc.description.abstract | This study tested whether a novel concurrent pictorial choice procedure, inspired by animal self-administration models, is sensitive to the motivational effect of negative mood induction on alcohol-seeking in hazardous drinkers. Forty eight hazardous drinkers (scoring ≥ 7 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Inventory) recruited from the community completed measures of alcohol dependence, depression and drinking coping motives. Baseline alcohol-seeking was measured by percent choice to enlarge alcohol versus food related thumbnail images in two-alternative forced-choice trials. Negative and positive mood was then induced in succession by means of self-referential affective statements and music, and percent alcohol choice was measured after each induction in the same way as baseline. Baseline alcohol choice correlated with alcohol dependence severity (r=.42, p=.003), drinking coping motives (in two questionnaires, r=.33, p=.02 and r=.46, p=.001) and depression symptoms (r=.31, p=.03). Alcohol choice was increased by negative mood over baseline (p<.001, ηp2 = .280), and matched baseline following positive mood (p=.54, ηp2=.008). The negative mood-induced increase in alcohol choice was not related to gender, alcohol dependence, drinking to cope or depression symptoms (ps≥.37). The concurrent pictorial choice measure is a sensitive index of the relative value of alcohol, and provides an accessible experimental model to study negative mood-induced relapse mechanisms in hazardous drinkers. | en_GB |
