TORONTO — While about half of patients with alcohol use disorder prefer non-abstinence based approaches to treatment, it is not clear when that approach is beneficial.
An article in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports points out, “only individuals who can limit their alcohol use after low-risk consumption are most likely to benefit from these approaches.”1
A pilot study, led by the University of Toronto and including participation from the U.S. Uniformed Services University of Health Science, developed a laboratory-based intravenous alcohol self-administration paradigm to determine the characteristics of individuals who could successfully resist consuming alcohol after an initial exposure.
For the study, 17 non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers completed two versions of an intravenous alcohol self-administration paradigm designed to assess impaired control over alcohol use. Participants received a priming dose of alcohol and then entered a 120-min resist phase, in which they received monetary rewards if they resisted self-administering alcohol.
Results indicated that 64.7% of participants across both versions of the paradigm were unable to resist alcohol for the duration of the session. Craving at baseline (HR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.01-1.13, p = 0.02) and following priming (HR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.02-1.15, p = 0.01) were associated with rate of lapse.
“Individuals who lapsed endorsed greater attempts to control their drinking over the prior six months compared to individuals who resisted, researchers explained, adding, “This study provides preliminary evidence that craving may be predictive of risk of lapse in individuals who are trying to limit alcohol intake after consuming a small initial amount of alcohol. Future studies should test this paradigm in a larger and more diverse sample.”
- Sloan ME, Sells JR, Vaughan CL, Morris JK, et. al. Modeling ability to resist alcohol in the human laboratory: A pilot study. Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2022 Oct 7;5:100105. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100105. PMID: 36844167; PMCID: PMC9948911.
