Rs. Stephens et L. Curtin, ALCOHOL AND DEPRESSION - EFFECTS ON MOOD AND BIASED PROCESSING OF SELF-RELEVANT INFORMATION, Psychology of addictive behaviors, 9(4), 1995, pp. 211-222
Alcohol's effects on mood and processing of self-relevant information
were studied in a sample of 57 college students (39 men and 18 women).
Participants were blocked on level of depression and were randomly as
signed to alcohol or placebo conditions. After beverage consumption, p
articipants processed trait adjectives under self-relevant and semanti
c-processing instructions. Results showed that biased processing of de
pressed-content adjectives by depressed participants under placebo con
ditions was reversed after consuming alcohol. Further, reduced recall
of depressed-content, self-relevant information after alcohol consumpt
ion was significantly related to alcohol-enhanced mood in depressed pa
rticipants. Results are discussed in relation to mechanisms of reinfor
cement that may link the coexistence of alcohol abuse and affective di
sorders.