Experimental tasks of behavioral risk taking in alcohol administration studies: A systematic review

Abstract

Research on emerging adults shows this population exhibits the highest rates of alcohol use and engages in the riskiest of behaviors (Boyer, 2006; Fromme, Corbin, & Kruse, 2008). Among experimental paradigms, prior reviews have established an increase in behavioral risk taking while under the influence of alcohol (Moskowitz & Robinson, 1988; Martin et al., 2013; Weafer & Fillmore, 2016). Previous research highlighted the importance of alcohol dose on behavioral risk taking and the lack of agreement on which psychometric tools are most accurate in assessing behavioral risk taking (Beulow & Blaine, 2015; King, Toule, De Wit, & Holdstock, 2002). This systematic review of experimental paradigms assessing the effects of the dose of alcohol on various behavioral risk taking tasks suggest that higher alcohol doses (0.6 g/kg and above) produces the most robust increase in behavioral risk taking across tasks, compared to lower doses of alcohol (<0.6 g/kg). Results suggest the BART is the most sensitive behavioral risk task used to detect increases in risk taking in moderate/higher doses compared to lower doses of alcohol. This review also highlights the difficulty in measuring behavioral risk taking, as behavioral risk taking is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon that may involve multiple constructs and means to capture it. Future research is needed to standardize experimental administration protocols, to aid in advancing the field of alcohol administration experiments, and to determine the most accurate measurement of behavioral risk taking. PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE: Past experimental paradigms measuring behavioral risk taking under the influence of alcohol in emerging adults have used various alcohol administration paradigms, experimental protocols, and behavioral risk tasks. Key to examining behavioral risk taking via experimental paradigms should use at higher alcohol doses. Future interventions need to assess for levels of blood alcohol concentration when assessing for at-risk populations for alchol use disorders.

Keywords: Alcohol; Behavioral risk taking; Emerging adults; Experimental paradigms.