Stress-motivated Alcohol Use as a Value-based Decision-making Process

NCT06264791 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: STUDY00018516K99AA030591
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 160
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this experimental study is to improve our understanding of the effects of stress on the decision to consume (more) alcohol in regular drinkers. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are:

• Does psychological stress affect the decision to consume (more) alcohol?
• How does psychological stress affect the decision to consume (more) alcohol? Participants will be randomly assigned to one of four conditions (stress alcohol, stress no alcohol, no stress alcohol, no stress no alcohol) and complete a value-based decision-making task twice (once before and once after the manipulations).

Conditions

Psychological Stress; Alcohol Intoxication

Keywords

alcohol administration; stress induction; value-based decision-making

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Proportion of choices for alcoholic over non-alcoholic drinks.

  Each participant will complete a two alternative forced-choice task in which they make repeated decisions between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

  5 minutes

Study Arms (4)

Stress alcohol

EXPERIMENTAL

These participants will undergo a stress induction and receive alcoholic beverages to raise their BAC to .06%

Other: Stress; Other: Alcohol

Stress no alcohol

EXPERIMENTAL

These participants will undergo a stress induction and receive non-alcoholic beverages

Other: Stress

No stress alcohol

EXPERIMENTAL

These participants will undergo a neutral induction and receive alcoholic beverages to raise their BAC to .06%

Other: Alcohol

No stress no alcohol

NO INTERVENTION

These participants will undergo a neutral induction and receive non-alcoholic beverages

Interventions

Stress OTHER

To manipulate stress, we follow the personalized imagery script procedure developed by Sinha and colleagues. Participants randomly assigned to the stress condition will be interviewed about one week prior to the lab session. They will share a detailed description of a stressful event from their life (last 12 months) with the interviewer. Based on this interview, the experimenter will write a script (\~500 words), that will then be audiotaped. Participants will listen to this personalized audiotape during the experiment, and will be asked to imagine this event as vividly as possible. Participants randomly assigned to the no stress condition will listen to a generic audiotape that describes a non-stressful event (\~500 words). They will not be interviewed. During the lab session, participants will first complete a 3-min color counting task. The participant will then listen to the audiotape (personalized stressful audiotape in stress condition, generic non-stressful audiotape in no stress c

Stress alcohol; Stress no alcohol

Alcohol OTHER

Intoxication: Participants randomly assigned to the alcohol condition will be administered 100-proof Vodka mixed with orange juice (1:3 ratio) to induce a BAC of .06% (based on Widmark's formula). They will be breathalyzed every 5 minutes until they reach peak BAC, at which point they will continue with the experiment. Participants randomly assigned to the no alcohol condition will be administered water mixed with orange juice (1:3 ratio). Each participant in the no alcohol condition will be yoked to a participant in the alcohol condition and will complete the same number of breath tests. Once participants in the alcohol condition reach peak BAC and participants in the no alcohol condition performed the same number of breath tests as the participant they are yoked to, participants will continue to the stress induction.

No stress alcohol; Stress alcohol

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 21 Years - 50 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Drinking alcohol at least once a week
• Consuming 4 (female) or 5 (male) drinks in one occasion at least once a month

You may not qualify if:

• Currently pregnant or trying to become pregnant
• Past or current diagnosis of an anxiety disorder, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Past or current treatment for alcohol use
• Past or current medical condition that contraindicates alcohol use
• Past or current reaction to alcohol that contraindicates alcohol use
• Past or current medication that contraindicates alcohol use

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Washington: lead
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Washington

Seattle, Washington, 98105, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress, Psychological; Alcoholic Intoxication

Interventions

Ethanol

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Alcohols; Organic Chemicals

Study Officials

• Kevin M King, PhD

  University of Washington

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 25, 2024
• First Posted: February 20, 2024
• Study Start: February 1, 2024
• Primary Completion: August 31, 2024
• Study Completion: August 31, 2024
• Last Updated: January 30, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Once data collection has been finalized and indefinitely.
• Access Criteria: Everyone will be able to access the data, they will be public. All data we share are fully anonymized and not sensitive.

Locations

US (1)