Trauma-Focused Imaginal Exposure for Individuals With Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Dependence: Revealing Mechanisms of Alcohol Craving in a Cue Reactivity Paradigm

With a sample ( N = 43) of participants meeting current diagnostic criteria for both alcohol dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the authors tested the hypothesis that alcohol craving elicited by a trauma cue might be attenuated if trauma-elicited negative emotion were reduced follo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology of addictive behaviors 2006-12, Vol.20 (4), p.425-435
Main Authors: Coffey, Scott F, Stasiewicz, Paul R, Hughes, Pamela M, Brimo, Marcella L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictive behaviors
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Alcohol dependence
Alcoholism
Alcoholism - psychology
Alcoholism - rehabilitation
Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Arousal
Biological and medical sciences
Comorbidity
Craving
Cues
Desensitization, Psychologic
Drug Dependency
Exposure Therapy
Female
Human
Humans
Imaginal Exposure
Imagination
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Motivation
Outpatient
Pain Measurement
Patient Dropouts - psychology
Patient Dropouts - statistics & numerical data
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - rehabilitation
Toxicology
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Summary:With a sample ( N = 43) of participants meeting current diagnostic criteria for both alcohol dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the authors tested the hypothesis that alcohol craving elicited by a trauma cue might be attenuated if trauma-elicited negative emotion were reduced following trauma-focused imaginal exposure. In a laboratory-based experiment, participants were randomly assigned to either trauma-focused imaginal exposure or imagery-based relaxation. A cue reactivity paradigm was used to assess alcohol craving prior to, and after completion of, the 6 clinical sessions. Attrition was high but did not differ between experimental conditions. For study completers, PTSD symptoms decreased in the exposure condition but not in the relaxation condition. Alcohol craving and distress elicited by trauma images decreased in the exposure condition but did not change in the relaxation condition. Results support the hypothesis that negative emotion is a mechanism of alcohol craving.
ISSN:0893-164X
1939-1501
DOI:10.1037/0893-164X.20.4.425