Racial discrimination contributes to increases in alcohol craving to cope with racial stress

Alcohol craving is associated with relapse following alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment. A new study is the first to examine how distinct experiences of interpersonal racial discrimination contribute to elevated alcohol craving. Findings will be shared at the 46th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) in Bellevue, Washington.

Among Young People, Being Around Peers May Elicit Greater Drinking Cravings than the Presence of Alcohol

The presence of peers is a key prompt for alcohol cravings among young people, according to a new study in Alcohol: Clinical & Experimental Research. When certain settings, people, or items—a bar, a friend, a glass—are paired with alcohol, they can become conditioned cues, eliciting drinking cravings. These learned reactions are associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD), treatment outcomes, and relapse. Adolescents and emerging adults are particularly susceptible to peer influence. In real-world settings, studies have found that the presence of peers predicts young people’s intensifying drinking cravings at the moment. In laboratory studies, however, peer influence is largely absent, potentially limiting the usefulness of their findings. Better understanding peers as alcohol cues could inform more effective AUD prevention and treatment programs. For the current study, researchers from Brown University, RI, evaluated alcohol cravings among youth in the human laboratory, using drinking-

Mood Influences Alcohol Craving Differently in Men and Women, Pointing the Way to Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments Tailored by Sex

Drinkers’ mood shifts and exposure to alcohol-related cues — beer cans, bars, and drinking buddies — contribute to alcohol cravings in opposite ways for men and women, a new study suggests. The findings have implications for how men and women develop dangerous drinking habits and ways that this might be prevented or treated. Various theories link alcohol use to positive and negative emotions: drinking to either enhance good mood or cope with stress, potentially becoming a self-reinforcing cycle. Studies have yielded mixed findings, however, suggesting that mood interacts with subconscious cognitive processes to prompt alcohol-seeking.

Traumatized People with Alcohol Use Disorder Likely Need a Range of Interventions to Address Risky Drinking

People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) who are successfully treated for trauma likely need additional interventions addressing persistent drinking patterns, according to a new study.

People Feeling Angry Are Willing to Purchase Alcohol at Higher Prices But May Not Know It

People who’ve been provoked to anger are willing to purchase alcohol at higher prices, but may not be aware of their increased urge to drink, according to a new study. Anger, hostility, and aggression are known to relate to drinking, with anger a risk factor for heavy alcohol use. Building on previous studies that have deliberately manipulated emotional states to explore their effects on substance use, researchers at Wayne State University, Michigan, designed an experiment that could help clarify whether anger can motivate people to drink . For the study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the investigators sought to induce anger in participants and measure the effect of that anger on the desire to drink. They used two measures of drinking urges: self-reported alcohol craving and a behavioral task that assesses people’s motivation to drink.