Mindfulness buffers the effects of cue-induced craving on alcohol demand in college drinkers

Abstract

Alcohol consumption among young adult college students represents a significant public health problem. The presence of alcohol-related cues in drinkers' environments can trigger powerful alcohol cravings, which may influence drinking outcomes. Less is known about how this cue-induced craving influences behavioral economic demand for alcohol. In addition, research has suggested that trait mindfulness may be an important buffer of the effects of internal states of craving on drinking decisions. Based on this literature, we hypothesized that cue-induced cravings would be associated with increased alcohol demand, an effect that would be attenuated among drinkers who have higher levels of mindfulness. Young adult college student drinkers (n = 69) completed a laboratory-based cue-induced craving assessment, a self-report assessment of trait mindfulness, and an alcohol purchase task. Findings revealed that cue-induced craving was related to higher alcohol demand. Consistent with the study hypothesis, acceptance, a component of mindfulness, buffered the effects of cue-induced craving on alcohol demand. Results raise the possibility that mindfulness-based interventions may be useful in helping disrupt the link between internal states of craving and drinking decisions in young adult college student drinkers.

The Benefits of Mindfulness for University Students

“…University drinking is associated with poorer academic performance and retention, higher rates of sexual assault, injury, and the development of alcohol use disorders. Hochster et al (2018) results demonstrated that mindfulness buffered the behavioral economic demand for alcohol among a sample of college drinkers who completed a laboratory-based cue-induced craving assessment, a self-report assessment of trait mindfulness, and an alcohol purchase task.…”

“…Mindfulness has also been cited for its potential to reduce the effects of cue-induced craving on alcohol demand and consumption among university students (Hochster, Block-Lerner, Marks, & Erblich, 2018). Student drinking is an issue on campuses as 39% of students partake in binge-drinking, according to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Hochster et al, 2018). University drinking is associated with poorer academic performance and retention, higher rates of sexual assault, injury, and the development of alcohol use disorders.…”

Purpose in life, neural alcohol cue reactivity and daily alcohol use in social drinkers

“…Alcohol craving, or an urge to consume alcohol, commonly precedes alcohol use, particularly among heavy drinkers and alcohol‐dependent individuals [8]. Alcohol craving is also considered a risk for alcohol use in non‐dependent college‐age social drinkers [9] and may result from exposure to alcohol cues that are common in college environments from peers [10] and media [11]. However, avoiding alcohol to preempt craving in daily life is difficult for some and may be perceived as socially costly in college environments [12].…”

Mindfulness buffers the influence of stress on cue-induced craving for Internet among Chinese colleges with problematic Internet use

“…Individuals with high levels of trait mindfulness have more metacognitive awareness ( Garland, Gaylord, & Park, 2009 ), and this facilitates more functional coping strategies ( Li, Howard, Garland, McGovern, & Lazar, 2017 ) to deal with stress. Trait mindfulness also enhances self-regulation ( Calvete et al, 2017 ; Sancho et al, 2018 ) and disengages the attention of addicts from substance-related stimuli ( Garland, 2014 ), both of which would decrease cravings in substance use disorders ( Garland et al, 2014 ; Li et al, 2017 ; Hochster, Block-Lerner, Marks, & Erblich, 2018 ; Tapper, 2018 ). Thus, it was hypothesized that trait mindfulness would moderate the influence of stress on cue-induced cravings.…”