Development and Validation of the Maternal Drinking Motives Scale (M-DMS).

Background: Alcohol use is a gendered behavior and motherhood is a life stage which may influence drinking motives. However, there are no drinking motive scales uniquely tailored to maternal populations. This work developed a new maternal drinking motives scale (M-DMS) and determined associations between the M-DMS and alcohol-related behavior.

The Associations among Perceived Courtesy Stigma, Health and Social Behaviours in Family Members and Friends of People Who Use Substances: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.

The stigma and discrimination experienced by individuals with an alcohol/substance use disorder often extends to the family members and friends who provide care, which is known as courtesy stigma. This courtesy stigma can lead to isolation, poor mental health and might impact the quality-of-care these individuals provide. The aim of this study was to examine the frequency of experienced courtesy stigma/discrimination in individuals in a family support service for a loved one's substance use, and to examine any cross-sectional associations with changes in mood, health- and social-related outcomes.

The labels and models used to describe problematic substance use impact discrete elements of stigma: A registered report.

Objectives: Problematic substance use is one of the most stigmatized health conditions leading research to examine how the labels and models used to describe it influence public stigma. Two recent studies examine whether beliefs in a disease model of addiction influence public stigma but result in equivocal findings-in line with the mixed-blessings model, Kelly et al. (2021) found that while the label "chronically relapsing brain disease" reduced blame attribution, it decreased prognostic optimism and increased perceived danger and need for continued care; however, Rundle et al.

Attempts to Influence the Value of Alcohol by Manipulating Social Influence and Context.

Recent cognitive neuroscience models of value-based decision-making suggest value-based choices for alcohol are sensitive to various inputs, such as context and social influence. In two online experiments, we tested whether manipulating these inputs influenced proxies for alcohol value. 157 social drinkers were presented with 4 hypothetical scenarios (drinking alone, with friends who are also drinking, with friends but trying to "cut-down" for health reasons, with friends who aren't drinking) in a within-subjects design, and completed the Brief Assessment of Alcohol Demand after each as a measure of value.

Alcohol use during pregnancy and motherhood: Attitudes and experiences of pregnant women, mothers, and healthcare professionals.

Alcohol is the most used substance by women of childbearing age. Alcohol exposed pregnancies can have serious consequences to the fetus, and the UK has one of the highest rates of drinking during pregnancy. Alcohol use during motherhood is also a public health concern, linked with potential harms to the woman and child.

Sign-tracking modulates reward-related neural activation to reward cues, but not reward feedback.

Research shows cognitive and neurobiological overlap between sign-tracking [value-modulated attentional capture (VMAC) by response-irrelevant, discrete cues] and maladaptive behaviour (e.g. substance abuse).

Corrigendum to "The effects of menstrual cycle stage and hormonal contraception on alcohol consumption and craving: A pilot investigation" [Compr. Psychoneuroendocrinol. 5C (2021) 100022].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.cpnec.

The impact of alcohol priming on craving and motivation to drink: a meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: An initial dose of alcohol can motivate-or prime-further drinking and may precipitate (re)lapse and bingeing. Lab-based studies have investigated the alcohol priming effect; however, heterogeneity in designs has resulted in some inconsistent findings. The aims of this meta-analysis were to (i) determine the pooled effect size for motivation to drink following priming, measured by alcohol consumption and craving, and (ii) examine whether design characteristics influenced any priming effect.

"Drinkers Like Me": A Thematic Analysis of Comments Responding to an Online Article About Moderating Alcohol Consumption.

Background: There has been media coverage surrounding the dangers of heavy drinking and benefits of moderation, with TV and radio presenter, Adrian Chiles, documenting his experience of moderating alcohol consumption in an online article for the Guardian. By analysing the comments in response to Chiles' article, this study aimed to explore (i) posters' (someone who has posted a comment in response to the article) attitudes or beliefs toward moderating alcohol and (ii) posters' experiences of moderating or abstaining from alcohol.

Method: A secondary qualitative analysis of online comments in response to an article about moderating alcohol consumption.

Menstrual Cycle Phase, Hormonal Contraception, and Alcohol Consumption in Premenopausal Females: A Systematic Review.

Women may be particularly vulnerable to alcohol harm, but many current theories fail to acknowledge the unique factors that influence female alcohol use. The biological mechanisms underlying female alcohol consumption have largely been unexplored, although recently the menstrual cycle has been highlighted as a potentially important factor. This systematic review, using a narrative synthesis, examined the association between the menstrual cycle phases on alcohol consumption and aimed to determine whether hormonal contraception influences this association.

Longitudinal associations with alcohol consumption during the first COVID-19 lockdown: Associations with mood, drinking motives, context of drinking, and mental health.

Background: Coronavirus (COVID-19) resulted in lockdown measures in the UK, which has impacted alcohol use. Alcohol is often used as a coping mechanism and there are public health concerns regarding excessive consumption due to the pandemic. We aimed to longitudinally assess drinking behaviors, and associated factors, during the first UK government-mandated lockdown.

Mobile Technology Use and Its Association With Executive Functioning in Healthy Young Adults: A Systematic Review.

Screen-based and mobile technology has grown at an unprecedented rate. However, little is understood about whether increased screen-use affects executive functioning (EF), the range of mental processes that aid goal attainment and facilitate the selection of appropriate behaviors. To examine this, a systematic review was conducted.

The effect of acute alcohol consumption on meal memory and subsequent food intake: Two laboratory experiments.

Altering the quality of episodic meal memories has been shown to affect subsequent food intake. Acute alcohol consumption disrupts memory formation and produces short-term overeating. In two studies, we investigated whether alcohol consumption can affect meal-related memories and later food intake.

The effect of alcohol on food-related attentional bias, food reward and intake: Two experimental studies.

Acute alcohol consumption has been shown to increase food intake, and long-term alcohol consumption may be a risk for weight gain. A potential, but under-studied, mechanism for this effect is alcohol's ability to enhance food reward. In two studies, participants consumed an alcoholic drink (Study 1: 0.

The effects of menstrual cycle stage and hormonal contraception on alcohol consumption and craving: A pilot investigation.

Background And Aims: Although alcohol research often comments on observed sex differences (i.e. patterns of consumption), there is a lack of investigation into the reasons for these differences.

Are psychosocial interventions effective in reducing alcohol consumption during pregnancy and motherhood? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: Alcohol use by pregnant and parenting women can have serious and long-lasting consequences for both the mother and offspring. We reviewed the evidence for psychosocial interventions to reduce maternal drinking.

Design: Literature searches of PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus identified randomised controlled trials of interventions with an aim of reduced drinking or abstinence in mothers or pregnant women.

Impact of Labeled Glasses in a Bar Laboratory Setting: No Effect on Ad Libitum Alcohol Consumption.

Aims: Information provided on glass labels may be an effective method to reduce alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of glass labels conveying unit information and a health warning in reducing ad libitum alcohol consumption.

Methods: A cluster-randomized experimental study was conducted to measure the efficacy of a labeled glass in reducing alcohol consumption in a semi naturalistic bar laboratory setting, in a sample of 81 pairs (n = 162) of UK young adult drinkers.

Alcohol devaluation has dissociable effects on distinct components of alcohol behaviour.

Rationale: Substance-related behaviour is often viewed as an appetitive behaviour, motivated by the reinforcing effects of the drug. However, there are various indices of substance motivation (e.g.

Baclofen: its effectiveness in reducing harmful drinking, craving, and negative mood. A meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: There are a limited number of pharmacotherapies licensed for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Baclofen is a γ-aminobutyric acid B (GABA-B) agonist which is used increasingly as an off-label treatment. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to determine the efficacy of baclofen in reducing drinking behaviour, craving, depression and anxiety compared with placebo.

Anticipated effects of alcohol stimulate craving and impair inhibitory control.

A considerable evidence base has demonstrated that priming doses of alcohol impair inhibitory control and activate motivation to consume alcohol. There is, however, a lack of studies investigating the effect of placebo-alcohol on these processes and their association with alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE). We investigated the effect of placebo-alcohol on craving and inhibitory control, and the extent to which placebo effects correlated with AOE in 32 nondependent drinkers.

The ad-libitum alcohol 'taste test': secondary analyses of potential confounds and construct validity.

Rationale: Motivation to drink alcohol can be measured in the laboratory using an ad-libitum 'taste test', in which participants rate the taste of alcoholic drinks whilst their intake is covertly monitored. Little is known about the construct validity of this paradigm.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate variables that may compromise the validity of this paradigm and its construct validity.

Evaluation of a Brief Personalised Intervention for Alcohol Consumption in College Students.

In the current study we investigated the effect of a brief personalised feedback intervention (BPI), compared to an active control intervention, on outcome measures of (i) alcohol consumption (ii) frequency of binge drinking and (iii) readiness to change (RTC). A sample of 103 college students (mean age=23.85) who consumed alcohol regularly provided baseline measures of drinking behaviour and readiness to change before completing an alcohol-related quiz on the UK Department of Health's Change4Life website (active control).

Extinction of cue-evoked drug-seeking relies on degrading hierarchical instrumental expectancies.

There has long been need for a behavioural intervention that attenuates cue-evoked drug-seeking, but the optimal method remains obscure. To address this, we report three approaches to extinguish cue-evoked drug-seeking measured in a Pavlovian to instrumental transfer design, in non-treatment seeking adult smokers and alcohol drinkers. The results showed that the ability of a drug stimulus to transfer control over a separately trained drug-seeking response was not affected by the stimulus undergoing Pavlovian extinction training in experiment 1, but was abolished by the stimulus undergoing discriminative extinction training in experiment 2, and was abolished by explicit verbal instructions stating that the stimulus did not signal a more effective response-drug contingency in experiment 3.

Electrophysiological responses to alcohol cues are not associated with Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer in social drinkers.

Pavlovian to Instrumental Transfer (PIT) refers to the behavioral phenomenon of increased instrumental responding for a reinforcer when in the presence of Pavlovian conditioned stimuli that were separately paired with that reinforcer. PIT effects may play an important role in substance use disorders, but little is known about the brain mechanisms that underlie these effects in alcohol consumers. We report behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) data from a group of social drinkers (n = 31) who performed a PIT task in which they chose between two instrumental responses in pursuit of beer and chocolate reinforcers while their EEG reactivity to beer, chocolate and neutral pictorial cues was recorded.