Selective attentional bias to alcohol related stimuli in problem drinkers and non-problem drinkers

Aims. The issues explored in this study were whether a patient group of pro blem drinkers selectively attend to alcohol-related stimuli and the time co urse of any interference from alcohol-related stimuli in comparison with tw o control groups of non-problem drinkers. Design. A 3x2x2x5 factorial desig n was used. Drinking group (low, high and problem) and word order (alcohol- neutral, neutral-alcohol) were between-participant factors, and word type ( alcohol, neutral) and presentation block (1-5) were within participant fact ors. Participants. Three groups were used, 20 participants from a local com munity alcohol Service (CAS) and 40 participants (student volunteers) in tw o control groups. The two control groups were differentiated as scoring hig h or low on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Measurem ents. A modified computerized Stroop colour naming test was used to measure response latencies. Anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inv entory. Findings. The CAS group showed significantly longer reaction times to respond to the colour of alcohol-related words than to neutral category words. Although the interference was smaller for the high AUDIT group it wa s significant. No significant interference was found in the low AUDIT group . There was no statistical evidence that the interference habituated in the three groups. Conclusions. The present study showed it is possible to use a modified Stroop task as a measure of implicit processing of alcohol stimu li. Despite the fact that all participants were asked to ignore the words, they were unable to do so. Alcohol-related words produced more interference than neutral category words in a group of problem drinkers and a control g roup of high alcohol drinkers.