Anxiety and explicit alcohol-related memory in problem drinkers

Abstract

Anxiety is associated with increased craving following in vivo cue exposure in alcoholics. Theoretical accounts [Psychol. Rev. 97 (1990) 147.] have proposed that conscious, deliberate cognitive processes underlie increased craving in drinkers who are trying to abstain. The present study tested the hypothesis that anxiety is associated with biases in explicit (i.e., conscious, deliberate) memory that promote recall of alcohol-related concepts in response to negative affective cues. Fifty-two (seven females) outpatient problem drinkers performed a cued recall task that assessed memory for alcohol-related (ALC), negative affective (NEG), and neutral (NEU) target concepts that had been paired with NEG, ALC, and NEU cues during an incidental study phase. Higher anxiety was associated with increased recall of ALC targets paired with NEG cues. State and trait anxiety were intercorrelated, with higher levels coinciding with a higher frequency of drinking in negative mood states. These findings demonstrate a correspondence between anxiety and alcohol-related memory, and suggest that explicit memory biases may contribute to increased subjective responses (e.g., craving, expectancies) to alcohol stimuli in anxious problem drinkers.