Numerous studies have shown that alcohol-related environmental stimuli (e.g., the sight of alcohol) can produce emotional responses such as craving in regular drinkers, termed cue-reactivity. Previous cue-reactivity research has focused on changes in urge to drink following cue-exposure. More recent studies have investigated personality correlates of cue-reactivity. However, this line of research has neglected phenomenological responses to alcohol-related cues despite the fact that many scholars agree that phenomenology is a component of the subjective craving construct and, thus, relevant when assessing cue-reactivity. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to experimentally investigate the phenomenology associated with exposure to an alcohol-related stimulus. The urge to drink and phenomenology of 41 social drinkers were measured at three temporal points: (1) baseline; (2) after exposure to a neutral cue (a glass of water); and (3) after exposure to an alcohol cue (participants' favorite alcoholic beverage). It was found that urge to drink significantly increased from neutral to alcohol cue presentation (after controlling for baseline levels). Results also indicated that participants experienced significant changes in phenomenology when presented with the neutral and alcohol cues.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BlockN. (2002). Concepts of consciousness. In ChalmersD. (Ed.), Philosophy of mind: Classical and contemporary readings (pp. 206–218). New York: Oxford University Press.
2.
BradizzaC. M.GulliverS. B.StasiewiczP. R.TorrisiR.RohsenowD. J.MontiP. M. (1999). Alcohol cue reactivity and private self-consciousness among male alcoholics. Addictive Behaviors, 24, 543–549.
3.
CarterB. L.TiffanyS. T. (1999). Meta-analysis of cue-reactivity in addiction research. Addiction, 94, 327–340.
4.
CoffeyS. F.SaladinM. E.LibetJ. M.DrobesD. J.DanskyB. S. (1999). Differential urge and salivary responsivity to alcohol cues in alcohol-dependent patients: A comparison of traditional and stringent classification approaches. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 7, 464–472.
5.
CurtinJ. J.BarnettN. P.ColbyS. M.RohsenowD. J.MontiP. M. (2005). Cue reactivity in adolescents: Measurement of separate approach and avoidance reactions. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 332–343.
6.
DaweS.GrayJ. A. (1995). Craving and drug reward: A comparison of methadone and clonidine in detoxified opiate addicts. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 39, 207–212.
FrankenI. H. A. (2002). Behavioral approach system (BAS) sensitivity predicts alcohol craving. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 349–355.
9.
GlautierS.BankartJ.WilliamsA. (2000). Flavour conditioning and alcohol: A multilevel model of individual differences. Biological Psychology, 52, 17–36.
10.
HuntH. T.ChefurkaC. M. (1976). A test of the psychedelic model of altered states of consciousness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 867–876.
11.
KambouropoulosN.StaigerP. K. (2001). The influence of sensitivity to reward on reactivity to alcohol-related cues. Addiction, 96, 1175–1185.
12.
KambouropoulosN.StaigerP. K. (2004). Reactivity to alcohol-related cues: The relationship between cue-type, motivational processes and personality. Psychology of Addictive Behaviours, 18, 275–284.
13.
KambouropoulosN.StaigerP. K. (2009). “Cue-reward salience” predicts craving in response to alcohol cues. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 78–82.
14.
McCuskerC. G.BrownK. (1991). The cue-responsivity phenomenon in dependent drinkers: “Personality” vulnerability and anxiety as intervening variables. British Journal of Addiction, 86, 905–912.
15.
MeyerR. E. (2000). Craving: What can be done to bring the insights of neuroscience, behavioral science, and clinical science into synchrony. Addiction, 95, 219–227.
16.
MontiP. M.BinkoffJ. A.AbramsD. B.ZwickW. R.NirenbergT. D.LiepmanM. R. (1987). Reactivity of alcoholics and nonalcoholics to drinking cues. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96, 122–126.
17.
MuchaR. F.GeierA.StuhlingerM.MundleG. (2000). Appetitive effects of drug cues modeled by pictures of the intake ritual: Generality of cue-modulated startle examined with inpatient alcoholics. Psychopharmacology, 151, 428–432.
18.
OotemanW.KoeterM. W. J.VserheulR.SchippersJ. M.van den BrinkW. (2006). Measuring craving: An attempt to connect subjective craving with cue-reactivity. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 30, 57–69.
19.
PekalaR. J. (1985). A psychophenomenological approach to mapping and diagramming states of consciousness. Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, 8, 199–214.
20.
PekalaR. J. (1991). Quantifying consciousness: An empirical approach. New York: Plenum Press.
21.
PekalaR. J.ForbesE.ContriscianiP. A. (1989). Assessing the phenomenological effects of several stress management strategies. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 88, 265–281.
22.
PekalaR. J.KumarV. K. (1984). Predicting hypnotic susceptibility by a self-report phenomenological state instrument. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 27, 114–121.
23.
PekalaR. J.KumarV. K. (1986). The differential organization of the structures of consciousness during hypnosis and a baseline condition. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 7, 515–540.
24.
PekalaR. J.SteinbergJ.KumarC. K. (1986). Measurement of phenomenological experience: Phenomenology of consciousness inventory. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 63, 983–989.
25.
PekalaR. J.WengerC. F. (1983). Retrospective phenomenological assessment: Mapping consciousness in reference to specific stimulus conditions. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 4, 247–274.
26.
PekalaR. J.WengerC. F.LevineR. L. (1985). Individual differences in phenomenological experience: States of consciousness as a function of absorption. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 125–132.
27.
RaabeA.GrusserS. M.WessaM.PodschusJ.FlorH. (2005). The assessment of craving: Psychometric properties, factor structure and a revised version of the alcohol craving questionnaire (ACQ). Addiction, 100, 227–234.
28.
ReberA. S.ReberE. (2001). The Penguin dictionary of psychology (3rd ed.). London: Penguin.
29.
RobinsonT. E.BerridgeK. C. (1993). The neural basis of drug craving: An incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. Brain Research Reviews, 18, 247–291.
30.
RockA. J.AbbottG.ChildargushiH.KiehneM. (2008). The effect of shamanic-like stimulus conditions and the cognitive-perceptual factor of schizotypy on phenomenology. North American Journal of Psychology, 10, 79–98.
31.
RockA. J.CaseyP. J.BaynesP. B. (2006). Experimental study of ostensibly shamanic journeying imagery in naive participants II: Phenomenological mapping and modified affect bridge. Anthropology of Consciousness, 17, 65–83.
32.
RockA. J.WilsonJ. M.JohnstonL. J.LevesqueJ. V. (2008). Ego boundaries, shamanic-like techniques and subjective experience: An experimental study. Anthropology of Consciousness, 19, 60–83.
33.
RohsenowD. J.MontiP. M.AbramsD. B.RubonisA. V.NiauraR. S.SirotaA. D. (1992). Cue elicited urge to drink and salivation in alcoholics: Relationship to individual differences. Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 14, 195–210.
34.
RohsenowD. J.NiauraR. S. (1999). Reflections on the state of cue-reactivity theories and research. Addiction, 94, 343–344.
35.
SaundersJ. B.AaslandO. G.BaborT. F.de le FuenteJ. R.GrantM (1993). Development of the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT). WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption-II. Addiction, 88, 791–804.
36.
StaigerP. K.WhiteJ. M. (1991). Cue reactivity in alcohol abusers: Stimulus specificity and extinction of the responses. Addictive Behaviors, 16, 211–221.
37.
StasiewiczP. R.GulliverS. B.BradizzaC. M.RohsenowD. J.TorrisiR.MontiP. M. (1997). Exposure to negative emotional cues and alcohol cue reactivity with alcoholics: A preliminary investigation. Behavior Research and Therapy, 35, 1143–1149.
38.
TiffanyS. T. (1990). A cognitive model of drug urges and drug-use behaviour: Role of automatic and non-automatic processes. Psychological Review, 97, 147–168.
39.
TiggemannM.KempsE. (2005). The phenomenology of food cravings: The role of mental imagery. Appetite, 45, 305–313.
40.
WalitzerK. S.SherK. J. (1990). Alcohol cue reactivity and ad lib drinking in young men at risk for alcoholism. Addictive Behavior, 15, 29–46.
41.
WoodsideL.KumarV. K.PekalaR. (1997). Monotonous percussion drumming and trance postures: A controlled evaluation of phenomenological effects. Anthropology of Consciousness, 8, 69–87.
