ESRC Society Today

A new training technique developed by researchers at the University of Wales, Bangor is proving successful in helping excessive drinkers curb their alcohol abuse. The computer-based training programme helps abusive drinkers pay less attention to alcohol, feel more in control of their drinking and drink less. Moreover, at a three-month follow-up assessment following the training programme excessive drinkers were found to have maintained the reduction in their drinking. 

Key findings

How alcohol distraction affects excessive drinkers

• Excessive drinkers unconsciously pay too much attention to the alcohol-related stimuli around them - stimuli such as pictures of alcoholic beverages or bottles of alcohol in an off-licence window or on the shelves of a supermarket.
• When excessive drinkers encounter drink-related stimuli, this activates automatic thought processes which stimulate them to want a drink and to actually take a drink.

How the Alcohol Attention-Control Training Programme (AACTP) works

• The Alcohol Attention-Control Training Programme (AACTP), developed by researchers at the University of Wales, works by helping excessive drinkers become less distracted by the alcohol stimuli they see around them.
• By helping excessive drinkers pay less attention to alcohol in their environment they gain more confidence in their ability to control their own behaviour, and then they drink less.
• The ACCTP training procedure is a computerised programme based on goal-setting techniques with immediate feedback. The training consists of various stages with progressive levels of difficulty.  For example, two bottles - an alcoholic and non-alcoholic one - appear on the computer screen each surrounded by a different colour. The participant must then identify the colour surrounding the non-alcoholic bottle as quickly as possible. This training causes people to become faster at ignoring alcohol stimuli.
• The training comprises four sessions over a month.

The implications of AACTP

• Over a course of four sessions, participants in this study reduced their attentional focus on alcohol and this translated into lower alcohol consumption.
• Excessive drinkers were found to have maintained this improvement at a three-month follow-up assessment.
• AACTP is now a tried and tested training programme which can help improve the effectiveness of treatment for excessive drinking. 
• AACTP is a highly accessible tool in that it will eventually offer excessive drinkers the opportunity to participate in this training in their own home over the Internet.

About the study

Professor W Miles Cox and Dr Javad S Fadardi of the School of Psychology, University of Wales, Bangor undertook this study in which they developed and evaluated an alcohol attention-control-training programme for reducing excessive drinking. A total of 220 people were tested. Participants who completed all sessions were (a) 40 social drinkers (14 per cent male, with a mean age of 30 years and a mean weekly drinking of 9 units); (b) 68 heavy drinkers (17 per cent male, with a mean age of 23 years and a mean weekly drinking of 42 units); and (c) 50 excessive drinkers (86 per cent male, with a mean age of 42 years and a mean weekly drinking of 72 units). All participants were tested for their attentional bias for alcohol. The excessive drinkers showed the greatest distraction for the alcohol stimuli. Taking part in a brief version of the attentional training was also beneficial to the heavy drinkers. The excessive drinkers received the full course of the computerised training programme consisting of four sessions over one month. As a result of the training, they showed significant reductions in their alcohol consumption that were maintained at the three-month follow-up.

Key words

Alcohol abuse, excessive drinking, addiction, training programme

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