Citation

Cox WM, Pothos EM, Hosier SG. Psychopharmacology 2007; 192(4): 499-510.

Affiliation

School of Psychology, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK. m.cox@bangor.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00213-007-0736-9

PMID

17333136

Abstract

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to identify cognitive (alcohol attentional bias, AAB) and motivational (motivational structure, MS; readiness to change, RTC) predictors of changes in excessive drinking. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred fifty-eight excessive drinkers not in treatment were administered a test battery and were re-tested 3 and 6 months later. The tests included the alcohol timeline followback, readiness to change questionnaire, alcohol Stroop (to measure AAB), personal concerns inventory (to measure MS), and a measure of family history of alcohol problems (FHAP). RESULTS: High RTC predicted short-term but not long-term reductions in drinking; both low AAB and high FHAP predicted long-term reductions. MS interacted with both AAB and RTC so that the greatest long-term drinking reductions occurred among participants with adaptive MS and low AAB and among those with adaptive MS and high RTC. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that (a) both cognitive and motivational factors affect the likelihood of drinking reductions and (b) a complete understanding of drinking problems should be formulated in terms of both cognitive and motivational variables.

Language: en