Learning to Resist the Urge: Inhibition Training in Abstinent Patients With Alcohol Use Disorders

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Therapeutic interventions to treat alcohol use disorders (AUD) still need to be improved. A novel alcohol-specific inhibition-training seems to be a promising new intervention. In this study, recently abstinent patients with AUD attending an inpatient treatment program will be randomly assigned to o...

Therapeutic interventions to treat alcohol use disorders (AUD) still need to be improved. A novel alcohol-specific inhibition-training seems to be a promising new intervention. In this study, recently abstinent patients with AUD attending an inpatient treatment program will be randomly assigned to one of two alcohol-specific inhibition-training groups (varying in Go/NoGo-ratio) or to a control condition. Besides the effects on drinking behavior, inhibition and implicit attitudes, the investigators expect the training to influence neurophysiological reactivity to alcohol related stimuli. A subgroup of patients will therefore additionally undergo EEG recording so that the neurophysiological effects of the training can be assessed and related to clinical outcome. Furthermore, since training effects rely on learning processes, the influence of endogenous cortisol level (a consolidation-enhancer which peaks in the morning) on training outcome will be examined by the variation of daytime of the training. All patients' inhibitory control and implicit associations towards alcohol will be measured before and after training. The training effects will be examined on proximal outcome variables (e.g. implicit associations, inhibitory control, abstinence related self-efficacy, craving) and on distal outcome variables at 3-, 6- and 12- months follow-up (e.g. percent abstinent days (primary outcome)).

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