INFORMATION

Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicología del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.

PSICOTHEMA
  • Director: Laura E. Gómez Sánchez
  • Frequency:
         February | May | August | November
  • ISSN: 0214-9915
  • Digital Edition:: 1886-144X
CONTACT US
  • Address: Ildelfonso Sánchez del Río, 4, 1º B
    33001 Oviedo (Spain)
  • Phone: 985 285 778
  • Fax: 985 281 374
  • Email:psicothema@cop.es

Leveraging Online Treatment to Re-examine the Association Between Alcohol Use and Disinhibition

Alexandra Anderson1, Emily Giddens1, Jeggan Tiego1, Dan Lubman1,2 and Antonio Verdejo-Garcia1


1 School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)
2 Turning Point, Eastern Health, Victoria (Australia)

Background: Cognitive disinhibition underpins alcohol and drug use problems. Although higher-risk substance use is consistently associated with poorer disinhibition, current findings may be limited by narrow recruitment methods, which over-represent  individuals engaged in traditional treatment services with more severe presentations. We embedded a novel gamified disinhibition task (the Cognitive Impulsivity Suite; CIS) in a national online addiction support service (https://www.counsellingonline.org.au). Method: Participants aged 18 to 64 (N = 137; 109 women) completed the Alcohol-Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT) along with the CIS, which measures three aspects of disinhibition (Attentional Control, Information-Sampling, and Feedback Monitoring/Shifting). The majority of the sample comprised people with alcohol use, and AUDIT scores were differentiated  into ‘higher-risk’ or ‘lower-risk’ groups using latent-class analysis. These classes were then regressed against CIS performance measures. Results: Compared to lower-risk, higher-risk alcohol use was associated with poorer attentional control and feedback monitoring/shifting. While higher-risk alcohol use was associated with slower information accumulation, this was only observed for older adults, who appeared to compensate with a more conservative response criterion. Conclusions: Our results reveal novel relationships between higher-risk alcohol use and specific aspects of disinhibition in participants who sought online addiction help services.

Antecedentes: El uso de alcohol se asocia a mayor desinhibición, pero estos hallazgos podrían no ser representativos de toda la población ya que predominan estudios en contextos especializados y casos severos. Aquí, incorporamos una nueva batería de evaluación de la desinhibición (Cognitive Impulsivity Suite o CIS) en una web de tratamiento online con acceso a una población más amplia   (https://www.counsellingonline.org.au). Método: Participantes de 18 a 64 años (N = 137; 109 mujeres) completaron vía web el “Alcohol-Use Disorders Identification Test” y la CIS, que evalúa tres componentes de la desinhibición (Control Atencional, Acumulación de Información y Monitorización / Cambio). Clasificamos en grupos de alto-riesgo versus bajo-riesgo aplicando un análisis de clases latentes sobre las puntuaciones del AUDIT. Usamos análisis de regresión para asociar las dos clases resultantes con las medidas de la CIS. Resultados: Alto-riesgo en el consumo de alcohol se asoció con peor rendimiento en Control Atencional y Monitorización / Cambio. La pertenencia al grupo de alto-riesgo se asoció con menor eficiencia en la acumulación de información en participantes de mayor edad. Conclusiones: Revelamos nuevas asociaciones entre el consumo de alcohol de riesgo y el rendimiento cognitivo en distintos componentes de la desinhibición en participantes que buscaban asistencia en una web de tratamiento online.

PDF

Impact Factor JCR SSCI Clarivate 2023 = 3.2 (Q1) / CiteScore SCOPUS 2023 = 6.5 (Q1)