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Individual differences in subjective alcohol responses and alcohol-related disinhibition.

ABSTRACT: There are important individual differences in acute subjective responses to alcohol, which have often been assessed using self-report measures. There is also evidence of meaningful between-persons variation in alcohol's disinhibiting effects on behavior, such that some individuals become more impaired on tasks of inhibition than do others after an intoxicating dose. The degree to which subjective alcohol responses correspond with these disinhibition effects is not yet clear. In this study, we tested associations among indices of subjective alcohol responses and their correspondence with sensitivity to alcohol-related disinhibition. We recruited recent-binge-drinking emerging adults (N = 82) for a group-administered, placebo-controlled, within-subject, counterbalanced alcohol challenge in a simulated bar laboratory. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a 2-factor model with several cross-loadings explained associations among the subjective measures well, replicating a differentiation between stimulant-like and sedative-like subjective responses. Controlling sex and placebo performance, participants who reported greater subjective stimulant-like effects-but not sedative-like effects-experienced more alcohol-related disinhibition, as measured by cued go/no-go task inhibitory failures. This association was small-to-moderate in magnitude. The results of this study highlight the distinction between stimulant-like and sedative-like subjective alcohol effects. They suggest, additionally, that there may be modest commonalities between alcohol's acute impacts on subjective stimulation and objective disinhibition.

SUBMITTER: Quinn PD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4795977 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Individual differences in subjective alcohol responses and alcohol-related disinhibition.

Quinn Patrick D PD Fromme Kim K

Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology 20160211 2

There are important individual differences in acute subjective responses to alcohol, which have often been assessed using self-report measures. There is also evidence of meaningful between-persons variation in alcohol's disinhibiting effects on behavior, such that some individuals become more impaired on tasks of inhibition than do others after an intoxicating dose. The degree to which subjective alcohol responses correspond with these disinhibition effects is not yet clear. In this study, we te ...[more]

PMID: 26867000

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Project description:Polydrug use is common, and might occur because certain individuals experience positive effects from several different drugs during early stages of use. This study examined individual differences in subjective responses to single oral doses of d-amphetamine, alcohol, and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in healthy social drinkers. Each of these drugs produces feelings of well-being in at least some individuals, and we hypothesized that subjective responses to these drugs would be positively correlated. We also examined participants' drug responses in relation to personality traits associated with drug use. In this initial, exploratory study, 24 healthy, light drug users (12 male, 12 female), aged 21-31 years, participated in a fully within-subject, randomized, counterbalanced design with six 5.5-hour sessions in which they received d-amphetamine (20mg), alcohol (0.8 g/kg), or THC (7.5 mg), each paired with a placebo session. Participants rated the drugs' effects on both global measures (e.g. feeling a drug effect at all) and drug-specific measures. In general, participants' responses to the three drugs were unrelated. Unexpectedly, "wanting more"? alcohol was inversely correlated with "wanting more"? THC. Additionally, in women, but not in men, "disliking"? alcohol was negatively correlated with "disliking"? THC. Positive alcohol and amphetamine responses were related, but only in individuals who experienced a stimulant effect of alcohol. Finally, high trait constraint (or lack of impulsivity) was associated with lower reports of liking alcohol. No personality traits predicted responses across multiple drug types. Generally, these findings do not support the idea that certain individuals experience greater positive effects across multiple drug classes, but instead provide some evidence for a "drug of choice"? model, in which individuals respond positively to certain classes of drugs that share similar subjective effects, and dislike other types of drugs.

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Project description:Rates of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have increased in women by 84% over the past ten years relative to a 35% increase in men. This substantive increase in female drinking is alarming given that women experience greater alcohol-related health consequences compared to men. Stress is strongly associated with all phases of alcohol addiction, including drinking initiation, maintenance, and relapse for both women and men, but plays an especially critical role for women. The purpose of the present narrative review is to highlight what is known about sex differences in the relationship between stress and drinking. The critical role stress reactivity and negative affect play in initiating and maintaining alcohol use in women is addressed, and the available evidence for sex differences in drinking for negative reinforcement as it relates to brain stress systems is presented. This review discusses the critical structures and neurotransmitters that may underlie sex differences in stress-related alcohol use (e.g., prefrontal cortex, amygdala, norepinephrine, corticotropin releasing factor, and dynorphin), the involvement of sex and stress in alcohol-induced neurodegeneration, and the role of ovarian hormones in stress-related drinking. Finally, the potential avenues for the development of sex-appropriate pharmacological and behavioral treatments for AUD are identified. Overall, women are generally more likely to drink to regulate negative affect and stress reactivity. Sex differences in the onset and maintenance of alcohol use begin to develop during adolescence, coinciding with exposure to early life stress. These factors continue to affect alcohol use into adulthood, when reduced responsivity to stress, increased affect-related psychiatric comorbidities and alcohol-induced neurodegeneration contribute to chronic and problematic alcohol use, particularly for women. However, current research is limited regarding the examination of sex in the initiation and maintenance of alcohol use. Probing brain stress systems and associated brain regions is an important future direction for developing sex-appropriate treatments to address the role of stress in AUD.

Dataset Information

Individual differences in subjective alcohol responses and alcohol-related disinhibition.

Publications

Individual differences in subjective alcohol responses and alcohol-related disinhibition.

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