Deficits in go/no-go task performance in male undergraduate high-risk alcohol users are driven by speeded responding to go stimuli.

Background: Response disinhibition plays an important role in addictive behaviors. However, results of studies on the performance on response inhibition tasks of individuals evidencing potentially problematic levels of alcohol drinking are mixed.

Objectives: We assessed conditions under which persons with a relatively high risk of alcohol dependence show inhibition deficits in such tasks and investigated the nature of those deficits.

Methods: Fifty-eight male undergraduate students, 27 of which were high-risk drinkers according to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, performed a go/no-go inhibition task with differing percentages of no-go trials (50% vs. 25%), stimulus presentation times (600 vs. 200 ms), and types of go and no-go stimuli (alcohol related vs. -unrelated). Response inhibition was indexed by response time (RT) to go trials and response accuracy on go and no-go trials.

Results: There were no differences between low- and high-risk drinkers on any of the three outcome measures under the 600-ms stimulus presentation condition. Under the 200-ms condition, the high-risk drinkers showed faster RTs to go stimuli, and more errors on both go- and no-go trials than the low-risk drinkers, irrespective of type and percentage of no-go stimuli. However, the accuracy differences between the two groups disappeared after controlling for the RT on go trials, suggesting a speed-accuracy trade-off.

Conclusion: High-risk drinkers' response inhibition deficits are not restricted to alcohol-related cues and are especially likely to occur under conditions prompting fast responding. These findings could be used to inform treatment, suggesting the promotion of strategies aimed at preventing high-risk alcohol users from making quick decisions.