Quantifying Phenomenology Associated with Exposure to Alcohol-Related Cues

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.