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Degree

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Psychology/Clinical, 2007.

Abstract

Frequent binge-drinking college students consume an average of 17 drinks per week, drink more than two-thirds of the alcohol consumed by college students, and account for more than three-fifths off the most serious alcohol-related consequences (e.g., missed classes, drunken driving, sexual assault) on college campuses (Wechsler, Molnar, Davenport & Baer, 1999). Clinicians and researchers have emphasized the relationship between alcohol abuse and the subjective experience of craving in alcohol dependent individuals; however, little research has examined the prevalence of craving, the relationship between craving and alcohol use, and the relationships among subjective, physiological, and cognitive measures of craving in binge-drinking college students. The current study was designed to assess multiple measures of craving experienced by binge-drinking college students when asked to smell four ounces of their favorite alcoholic beverage (e.g., vodka, beer, wine, etc) and a control beverage (water) counter-balanced across participants. Craving was measured using the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (AUQ; Bohn et al., 1995), the Stroop color-naming task, and the amount of saliva produced (measured using dental rolls) when participants were presented with each type of beverage. In addition, participants completed the Comprehensive Effect of Alcohol (CEOA) to assess positive and negative alcohol expectancies (Fromme, 1993), the UPPS Impulsive Behavior scale to assess individuals’ level of self-reported impulsivity (Whiteside & Lynam, 2001), and a demographic and drinking history questionnaire. Exposure to participants’ favorite type of alcoholic beverage produced significantly greater levels of both salivation and higher self-reported craving than when they were exposed to the control beverage, water. Additionally, following alcohol cue-exposure, these binge-drinking college students had nearly identical levels of self-reported craving (AUQ mean score) as a sample of individuals diagnosed with alcohol dependence(Drummond & Phillips, 2002). Exploratory analyses also revealed that, as college students’ impulsivity and positive and negative alcohol expectancies increased, so did their subjective experience of craving following exposure to alcohol. To the degree that binge-drinking college students are experiencing subjective craving equivalent to an alcohol dependent population, such craving may be motivating the initiation of problem drinking and would warrant more attention as a target of assessment and therapy.

Subject Headings

Psychology, Clinical

Keywords

college students; alcohol use; craving; binge-drinking

Advisor

Harold Rosenberg

Pages

65p.

Document number: bgsu1182736064
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1182736064

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