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Addictive Behaviors

Differences in Alcohol Go/No-Go Task Performance in a Community Sample of Light Versus Heavy Drinkers

(PS1-47) Differences in Alcohol Go/no-go Task Performance in a Community Sample of Light versus Heavy Drinkers

Friday, November 15, 2024

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM EST

Location: Franklin Hall, Level 4, Marriott Downtown

Author(s)

Kayla E. Hall, M.S.

PhD Student
Texas A&M University
Bryan, Texas, United States

Co-Author(s)

Kasey Stanley, B.S.

Research Assistant
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas, United States
AV

Anka A. Vujanovic, Ph.D.

Professor and Director of Clinical Training; Director, Trauma and Stress Studies Center
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas, United States

Abstract Text: Processes involving inhibition play a critical role in regulating behavior, subsequently influencing decision-making skills and the overall management of impulsivity (Lawrence et al., 2009). The alcohol go/no go task serves as a widely used tool for assessing inhibitory processes that are integral to higher level executive functions (Ames et al., 2014). This task is designed to measure inhibitory control by presenting participants with alcoholic and non-alcoholic stimuli and instructing them to press a spacebar when exclusively presented with non-alcoholic stimuli. Previous literature has indicated that individuals higher in impulsivity (i.e., those with AUDs or SUDs) show lower inhibitory control and make more commission errors on the alcoholic/No-Go stimuli (Ahmadi et al., 2014; Roberts et al., 2014). However, studies investigating these relationships have often used relatively small or college-aged populations. Thus, the present study sought to investigate differences between heavy and light drinkers on performance on the alcohol go/no go task in a community sample. Using Prolific, participants (N = 313; Mage = 37.99, SDage = 12.61; 65.8% men; 75.4% White) provided information about their alcohol use via the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT; Saunders et al., 1993) and completed an alcohol go/no-go task (Ames et al., 2014). Participants were categorized as heavy drinkers (n = 98) if they reported consuming alcohol daily or weekly, while light drinkers (n = 215) reported consuming alcohol monthly or less than monthly. Compared to light drinkers (M = -1.36, SE = .63), heavy drinkers (M = -1.49, SE = .51) made significantly more incorrect hits, t(304) = 1.73, p = .04. Heavy drinkers (M = 3.87, SE = .64) also demonstrated significantly better discriminability between alcoholic and non-alcoholic stimuli compared to light drinkers (M = 3.65, SE = .94), t(304) = -1.10, p = .02. Results revealed that compared to light drinkers, heavy drinkers: a) demonstrate poorer inhibitory control as measured by incorrectly responding more frequently to alcoholic stimuli and b) can better distinguish alcoholic stimuli from non-alcoholic stimuli. Findings suggest that clinical intervention for heavy drinking may benefit from assessing and targeting inhibitory control and attentional bias to weaken the relationship between alcoholic stimuli and maladaptive behavioral responses.