Attentional bias in alcohol-dependent patients: the role of chronicity and executive functioning

Abstract

It has been suggested that the attention towards alcohol-related stimuli increases with the duration of drinking and alcohol dependence. The present study aimed to assess whether an attentional bias was present in detoxified alcohol-dependent patients, and if the magnitude of the attentional bias depended on the subject's drinking history and variables of executive functioning. Attentional bias was assessed in 30 alcohol-dependent patients using a visual dot-probe task with a picture presentation time of 50 ms. In addition, patients completed a variety of different cognitive tasks such as attention, continuous performance, working memory, set shifting and inhibitory control tests. Based on correlation analysis we split the patient sample on the median with regard to the duration of alcohol dependence and our results indicated a significant attentional bias towards alcohol-associated pictures in patients dependent for less than 9 years, but not in patients with a longer duration of dependence. The two patient samples differed significantly with regard to attention and working memory functioning with patients who were dependent for more than 9 years showing a greater impairment. When impairment of attention and working memory were controlled for, the group differences in attentional bias were no longer significant. Our results indicate that differences with regard to drinking-related variables as well as cognitive functioning seem to modulate attentional bias and need to be taken into account in models of drinking maintenance.