Combination of two behavioral techniques reduces craving in problematic alcohol consumption by one third: a randomized controlled trial

TY - JOUR

T1 - Combination of two behavioral techniques reduces craving in problematic alcohol consumption by one third: a randomized controlled trial

AU - Moritz, Steffen

AU - Göritz, Anja S

AU - Kühn, Simone

AU - Gehlenborg, Josefine

N1 - © 2022 S. Karger AG, Basel.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - INTRODUCTION: Craving alcohol is a core symptom of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and an important target for treatment. A new line of treatment for AUD aims at overriding the urge to consume alcohol by changing implicit cognitions via approach bias modification (ApBM). In a prior study, we tested a variant of ApBM called imaginal retraining, which reduced craving. As addiction and body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) share important symptoms (e.g., inability to resist urges), for the present study we merged imaginal retraining with a technique aimed at BFRB, called decoupling, to augment treatment effects. We hypothesized that the new technique, which is called 3P, would lead to a greater reduction in craving relative to (active) control conditions.METHODS: The study was conducted online. Data from 227 participants were considered. Participants were randomized to 1 out of 5 conditions. Craving for alcohol before and after the brief intervention was the primary outcome.RESULTS: Only the 3P condition lessened craving by approximately one third at an almost medium effect size (improvement: 34.5%, p = 0.003, d = 0.458). Effects were significantly larger relative to the wait-list control and two active control conditions (p's < 0.02; greater reduction than imaginal retraining at a small but nonsignificant effect size).DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: If replicated, the combination of imaginal retraining and decoupling (3P) represents a promising, easy-to-implement self-help technique to reduce immediate craving. Long-term effects in participants with formally diagnosed AUD have not yet been investigated.

AB - INTRODUCTION: Craving alcohol is a core symptom of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and an important target for treatment. A new line of treatment for AUD aims at overriding the urge to consume alcohol by changing implicit cognitions via approach bias modification (ApBM). In a prior study, we tested a variant of ApBM called imaginal retraining, which reduced craving. As addiction and body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) share important symptoms (e.g., inability to resist urges), for the present study we merged imaginal retraining with a technique aimed at BFRB, called decoupling, to augment treatment effects. We hypothesized that the new technique, which is called 3P, would lead to a greater reduction in craving relative to (active) control conditions.METHODS: The study was conducted online. Data from 227 participants were considered. Participants were randomized to 1 out of 5 conditions. Craving for alcohol before and after the brief intervention was the primary outcome.RESULTS: Only the 3P condition lessened craving by approximately one third at an almost medium effect size (improvement: 34.5%, p = 0.003, d = 0.458). Effects were significantly larger relative to the wait-list control and two active control conditions (p's < 0.02; greater reduction than imaginal retraining at a small but nonsignificant effect size).DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: If replicated, the combination of imaginal retraining and decoupling (3P) represents a promising, easy-to-implement self-help technique to reduce immediate craving. Long-term effects in participants with formally diagnosed AUD have not yet been investigated.

KW - Humans

KW - Craving

KW - Alcohol Drinking/therapy

KW - Alcoholism/therapy

KW - Cognition

KW - Ethanol

U2 - 10.1159/000527877

DO - 10.1159/000527877

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 36481516

VL - 29

SP - 30

EP - 33

JO - EUR ADDICT RES

JF - EUR ADDICT RES

SN - 1022-6877

IS - 1

ER -