Abstract

Alcohol is mainly consumed in social settings, in which people often adapt their drinking behaviour to that of others, also called imitation of drinking. Yet, it remains unclear what drives this drinking in a social setting. In this study, we expected to see stronger brain and behavioural responses to social compared to non‐social alcohol cues, and these responses to be associated with drinking in a social setting. The sample consisted of 153 beer‐drinking males, aged 18–25 years. Brain responses to social alcohol cues were measured during an alcohol cue‐exposure task performed in an fMRI scanner. Behavioural responses to social alcohol cues were measured using a stimulus‐response compatibility task, providing an index of approach bias towards these cues. Drinking in a social setting was measured in a laboratory mimicking a bar environment. Specific brain responses to social alcohol cues were observed in the bilateral superior temporal sulcus and the left inferior parietal lobe. There was no approach bias towards social alcohol cues specifically; however, we did find an approach bias towards alcohol (versus soda) cues in general. Brain responses and approach bias towards social alcohol cues were unrelated and not associated with actual drinking. Thus, we found no support for a relation between drinking in a social setting on the one hand, and brain cue‐reactivity or behavioural approach biases to social alcohol cues on the other hand. This suggests that, in contrast to our hypothesis, drinking in a social setting may not be driven by brain or behavioural responses to social alcohol cues.

Highlights

  • Alcohol use is often initiated during adolescence and peaks in young adulthood (Chassin & Loeb, 2013; Dennis & Scott, 2007; Johnston, 2010)

  • We found no significant correlations, which was further supported by Bayesian statistics providing anecdotal to moderate evidence for the null hypothesis of no correlation between social alcohol cue‐reactivity and social alcohol approach bias

  • Using a whole‐ brain simple regression model, we found no significant correlation between alcohol cue‐reactivity and alcohol approach bias

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Summary

Introduction

Alcohol use is often initiated during adolescence and peaks in young adulthood (Chassin & Loeb, 2013; Dennis & Scott, 2007; Johnston, 2010). In order to prevent or reduce alcohol‐related health concerns in young adults, it is important to better understand the mechanisms underlying the motivation to drink alcohol. Drinking behaviour in young and non‐dependent drinking adults is largely driven by social factors, and alcohol is usually consumed in the company of friends, during parties and in bars (Beck et al, 2008; Clapp & Shillington, 2001; Dallas et al, 2014). It has repeatedly been found that individuals tend to adjust their alcohol consumption to a drinking partner in social settings, a phenomenon called imitation of drinking (Bot, Engels, & Knibbe, 2005; Caudill & Marlatt, 1975; Larsen, Engels, Granic, & Overbeek, 2009; Larsen, Engels, Souren, Granic, & Overbeek, 2010; Larsen, Overbeek, Granic, & Engels, 2010; Larsen, Overbeek, et al, 2012; Larsen, Engels, Granic, & Huizink, 2013; Larsen, Lichtwarck‐Aschoff, Kuntsche, Granic, & Engels, 2013). It is important to further examine the processes that contribute to drinking in social settings

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