Alcohol consumption primes automatic alcohol-approach associations.

OBJECTIVE There is increasing evidence that automatic mental processes play a role in problematic alcohol use. Although previous research has shown that alcohol consumption can prime alcohol-seeking behavior in animals and humans, little research has examined whether alcohol consumption activates automatic alcohol-related cognitions. The current study was designed to examine the effects of alcohol consumption on the activation of automatic alcohol motivation as measured by a reaction time task. METHOD Eighty-five at-risk drinkers participated in the study, which began with a baseline measure of automatic alcohol motivation, after which participants completed a taste-test in which they could consume as much beer as they liked for 10 minutes. Following an absorption period, participants completed the measure of automatic alcohol motivation for a second time. RESULTS A partial correlation analysis indicated that amount of alcohol consumed predicted stronger automatic alcohol motivation when controlling for the baseline level of automatic alcohol motivation. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that alcohol consumption may prime the automatic mental processes that have been shown to contribute to problematic alcohol use.