Mood selectively moderates the implicit alcohol association–drinking relation in college student heavy episodic drinkers.

Abstract

Multiple studies indicate that implicit alcohol-related associations (i.e., indices of relatively fast, spontaneous processes) predict drinking. An important next step is to investigate moderators of the implicit association-drinking relationship. Mood state has been proposed as a moderator of this relationship: implicit associations have been theorized to be stronger predictors of drinking under positive mood states. From the same theoretical perspective, explicit measures (indices of relatively slow, reflective processes) have been proposed to be stronger predictors of drinking under negative mood states. The current study evaluated these hypotheses by investigating whether mood state (manipulated via exposure to a brief video clip) moderated the relations between three types of implicit alcohol-related associations (alcohol excite, alcohol approach, and drinking identity), their explicit counterparts, and drinking in a taste test that included beer and soft drinks. A sample of 152 undergraduate social drinkers (81 men; 71 women) completed baseline measures of implicit alcohol-related associations, their explicit counterparts, and typical drinking behaviors. Participants then viewed a mood-state-inducing video clip (positive, neutral, or negative), and completed the taste test. Results were mixed but generally indicated that prediction of drinking by baseline implicit alcohol excite (but not alcohol approach or drinking identity) associations was moderated by mood. Specifically, implicit alcohol excite associations were more negatively associated with drinking after viewing the sad video and more positively associated with drinking after watching the happy/neutral video. Moderation was also observed for the explicit counterpart of alcohol excite. Findings are discussed in terms of models of negative reinforcement drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record

Implicit Cognition and Psychopathology: Looking Back and Looking Forward

“…These discrepancies may be due to differences in populations (e.g., heavy drinkers versus nonheavy drinkers) or the presence of advertising in visual stimuli (see Kreusch et al 2013). Other potential moderators that may influence the relation between implicit drinking-related cognition and outcomes include age (Davies et al 2017), sex (Lindgren et al 2016a), executive functions (Lavigne et al 2017), mood (Lindgren et al 2018c), distractibility (Farris et al 2010), and other substance use (e.g., Cohn et al 2014). For example, positive + alcohol associations on an IAT predicted drinking behavior among adults in college aged 18 and older, but not among adolescents aged 11-17 years (Davies et al 2017).…”

Self-control, implicit alcohol associations, and the (lack of) prediction of consumption in an alcohol taste test with college student heavy episodic drinkers

“…An additional study found that underage social drinkers were more likely to violate self-imposed drinking limits in their natural environment on days when they experienced higher demands (e.g., dealt with stress, tried to control their thoughts) relative to their own averages [26]. With regard to the role of alcohol-related associations, two studies demonstrated a positive, significant relation between alcohol-related associations and alcohol consumption only among individuals who completed more (vs. less) demanding tasks [24,27]. These studies also included self-report measure counterparts to implicit measures, which we henceforth refer to as explicit measures for brevity, but varied with regard to their findings.…”

“…These studies also included self-report measure counterparts to implicit measures, which we henceforth refer to as explicit measures for brevity, but varied with regard to their findings. One study found that a positive, significant relation between an explicit measure of alcohol attitudes and alcohol consumption only among individuals who completed a less (vs. more) demanding task [27], and the other study found that condition did not moderate the relation between explicit measure and consumption [24].…”

“…First, two of the previous studies included implicit measures assessing appetitive inclinations towards alcohol, whether via an IAT assessing associations between alcohol and approach [23] or via a different task (the Stimulus Response Compatibility task) assessing how quickly one moves a mannikin toward or away from images with or without alcohol [24]. The third study included an IAT assessing associations between alcohol and valence (i.e., good/bad, [27]). There are other alcohol-related associations that, based on recent studies [19,20], also predict U.S. college student drinking but have rarely been examined in interaction with more or less cognitive demands and incentives to exert self-control.…”

“…Specifically, we examined associations between drinking and the self (i.e., drinking identity [20,21]) and between alcohol and excitement [19,20]. We note that there is some evidence that the latter is also associated with college students’ alcohol consumption in the laboratory [27].…”