Biomedical subjects

M A Sayette

Publications and source records attributed to M A Sayette.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

A review of the effects of perceived drug use opportunity of self-reported urge.

Although persons addicted to drugs reliably report experiencing cravings or urges during drug cue exposure, less is known about factors that may moderate this effect. This article reviews cue exposure studies with people who smoke, are dependent on alcohol, or are addicted to cocaine or opiates. Perceived drug use opportunity is found to affect urge ratings. Specifically, people who are addicted to substances and who perceive an opportunity to consume their drug of choice report higher urges than do those who do not anticipate being able to use the drug. This factor was proposed to explain why those in treatment for substance dependence report urges that are about half the strength of those in nontreatment settings. The impact of perceived drug use opportunity on urge is considered from a variety of perspectives, including conditioning theories, a cognitive appraisal framework, and motivated reasoning theory. Conceptual and methodological implications of perceived drug use opportunity are addressed.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

PubMed2001

A multi-dimensional analysis of cue-elicited craving in heavy smokers and tobacco chippers.

AIMS: This research examined the performance of a broad range of measures posited to relate to smoking craving. DESIGN: Heavy smokers and tobacco chippers, who were either deprived of smoking or not for 7 hours, were exposed to both smoking (a lit cigarette) and control cues. PARTICIPANTS: Smokers not currently interested in trying to quit smoking (n = 127) were recruited. Heavy smokers (n = 67) averaged smoking at least 21 cigarettes/day and tobacco chippers (n = 60) averaged 1-5 cigarettes on at least 2 days/week. MEASUREMENTS: Measures included urge rating scales and magnitude estimations, a rating of affective valence, a behavioral choice task that assessed perceived reinforcement value of smoking, several smoking-related judgement tasks and a measure of cognitive resource allocation. FINDINGS: Results indicated that both deprivation state and smoker type tended to affect responses across these measurement domains. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the use of several novel measures of craving-related processes in smokers.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

A test of the appraisal-disruption model of alcohol and stress.

OBJECTIVE: Faced with a large body of contradictory findings, investigators have begun to propose cognitive factors that moderate the effects of alcohol on stress. We tested the hypothesis, stemming from the appraisal-disruption model (ADM), that alcohol would be more likely to reduce stress when consumed prior to exposure to a stressor than when consumed following exposure. METHOD: Male and female social drinkers (N = 169, 85 men) with or without a parental history of alcoholism were recruited using separate structured clinical interviews with the participant and with a biological parent. Participants drank a moderate dose of alcohol or a placebo in one of two temporal sequences. Stress was induced by asking participants to present a self-disclosing speech about their physical appearance. Stress responses were assessed using four types of measures: self-reported anxiety, pulse rate, facial expression associated with negative affect and threat-related interference on a color-naming task. RESULTS: Alcohol was generally more likely to attenuate stress responses when initial exposure to a social stressor followed drinking than when it preceded drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Findings were consistent with predictions stemming from the ADM. Alcohol appears to be more likely to reduce stress when initial stress appraisal occurs during intoxication. In contrast, when initial appraisal occurs prior to drinking, alcohol is less effective in attenuating stress.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Effects of assessment frequency on subjective intoxication ratings after alcohol consumption.

BACKGROUND: It is common for subjective intoxication measures to be administered frequently throughout an experimental session. It is unclear, however, whether repeated assessments affect the experience of intoxication. This study examined the effect of assessing subjective intoxication levels during alcohol consumption on subsequent perceptions of intoxication after drinking. METHODS: Forty-two participants consumed a moderate dose of alcohol (men, 82 g/kg; women, 0.74 g/kg) during a 30-min period. Participants either reported or did not report subjective intoxication levels at 10-min intervals during the drinking period. After the drink, all participants rated their level of subjective intoxication on several occasions. RESULTS: Individuals who reported their intoxication during the drinking period reported higher levels after consumption than did those who did not rate their intoxication during drinking. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest the potential for reactivity effects when conducting repeated assessments of perceived subjective intoxication.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Effects of smoking opportunity on attentional bias in smokers.

The emotional Stroop task was used to examine the influence of opportunity to smoke on attentional bias to smoking-related stimuli. At the outset of the study, 92 nicotine-deprived smokers were told that they (a) would, (b) would not, or (c) might be able to smoke during the experiment. Next, participants completed an emotional Stroop task, in which they were presented with smoking-related or -unrelated words in an unblocked format. Smokers demonstrated interference to the smoking words, relative to matched neutral words, F(1, 87) = 18.0, p < .0001. Moreover, smoking opportunity affected the degree of interference, F(2, 87) = 4.35, p < .02, with participants who had been told they would be able to smoke during the study showing the most interference. The results suggest that smoking opportunity affects the salience of smoking-related stimuli among nicotine-deprived smokers.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

The measurement of drug craving.

This paper reviews theoretical and methodological issues in the measurement of drug craving, with an emphasis on self-report assessment. Despite the important role that craving plays in many research and clinical settings, the way in which the construct is conceptualized and measured rarely receives sufficient attention. Issues pertinent to conceptualizing craving are identified. Because there is no single perfect measure of craving, it is essential that researchers understand the limitations of each measure. Measurement performance concerns that affect the validity of different measures are reviewed. Non-verbal assessment methods are also reviewed. Research factors that may help determine the optimal measures for a given study are highlighted. It is concluded that advances in assessment will proceed only when combined with additional research and a better theoretical understanding of craving.

Behavior, Addictive↗

PubMed1999

Effects of olfactory stimuli on urge reduction in smokers.

This study examined the possibility that exposure to olfactory stimuli can reduce self-reported urge to smoke. After an initial assessment of self-reported urge, nicotine-deprived smokers evaluated the pleasantness of a series of 8 odors. Facial expressions during odor presentations were coded with P. Ekman and W. V. Friesen's (1978a) Facial Action Coding System. After odor administration, participants were exposed to smoking cues. Next, participants were administered their most pleasant, least pleasant, or a control odor (water) and reported their urge to smoke. Results indicated that sniffing either a pleasant or unpleasant odor reduced reported urge to smoke relative to the control odor. Reported pleasantness of the odors did not differentially affect urge reduction. Odors eliciting negative-affect-related expressions, however, were less effective than odors that did not elicit negative-affect-related expressions in reducing reported urge. Results of this preliminary investigation provide support for the consideration of odor stimuli as an approach to craving reduction.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Does drinking reduce stress?

For centuries, people have used alcohol to relieve stress--that is, the interpretation of an event as signaling harm, loss, or threat. The organism usually responds to stress with a variety of behavioral, biological, and cognitive changes. Alcohol consumption can result in a stress-response dampening (SRD) effect, which can be assessed using various measures. Numerous individual differences and situational factors help determine the extent to which a person experiences SRD after consuming alcohol. Individual differences include a family history of alcoholism, personality traits, extent of self-consciousness, cognitive functioning, and gender. Situational factors influencing alcohol's SRD effect include distractions during a stressful situation and the timing of drinking and stress. The attention-allocation model and the appraisal disruption model have been advanced to explain the influence of those situational factors.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1996

Development of a brief measure of semantic priming.

Neuropsychologists use a variety of stimuli to investigate semantic memory functioning. Methodological concerns limit interpretation of performance differences between patients and nonpatient controls. The present study describes the development of a brief measure of semantic memory. Results indicate that this measure of semantic priming provides a brief, yet sensitive, measure of semantic memory. It may prove useful for researchers interested in examining semantic memory processes in cognitively impaired individuals.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Admission requirements, acceptance rates, and financial assistance in clinical psychology programs. Diversity across the practice-research continuum.

129 directors (80% response) of APA-accredited clinical psychology programs provided information pertaining to admission requirements, acceptance rates, financial assistance, and theoretical orientations. Summary data are presented and comparisons are made among 4 types of clinical programs: PsyD programs, practice-oriented PhD programs, equal-emphasis PhD programs, and research-oriented PhD programs. Clinical doctoral programs held similar expectations for undergraduate preparation in psychology, but robust differences emerged on preferred Graduate Record Examination scores, acceptance rates, and financial assistance. In the most extreme comparison (PsyD vs. research-oriented PhD programs), students were 4 times more likely to gain acceptance but 6 times less likely to receive full financial assistance in PsyD programs. Implications of these results for potential graduate students and for the future of applied psychology programs are briefly discussed.

Curriculum↗

PubMed1994

Effects of cue exposure and deprivation on cognitive resources in smokers.

This research examines the effects of manipulations designed to induce an urge to smoke on cognitive resources. Two cue-exposure experiments were conducted in which current smokers' reported urge to smoke and cognitive resources, as measured by a secondary reaction time (RT) probe, were assessed. In each study, subjects came to the laboratory twice, once while deprived of smoking for 12 hr and once when they were nondeprived. During each session, subjects were exposed to both smoking and control cues. Results indicated that experimental manipulations designed to elicit a strong urge to smoke led to an increase in self-reported urge to smoke and a decrease of available cognitive resources, as measured by RT. In addition, these 2 measures were significantly correlated. These data, in conjunction with previous findings using alcohol-dependent subjects (M. A. Sayette et al., 1994), lend support to the validity of RT as an objective measure of the effects of cue exposure on cognitive resources.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Parental history of alcohol abuse and the effects of alcohol and expectations of intoxication on social stress.

Male and female social drinkers, half of whom had a biological father who abused alcohol, were exposed to a social stressor (anticipation and delivery of a public speech) after consuming either a moderate dose of alcohol or tonic water. Half of each group were led to believe that they had consumed alcohol, the other half tonic water, yielding a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design. Intoxication, but not beliefs about having consumed alcohol, significantly reduced subjective anxiety and negative self-evaluation in response to the stressor in both men and women. Parental history of alcohol abuse differentially affected alcohol's influence on mood, but not measures of subjective intoxication, subjective physiological responses to alcohol, beliefs about alcohol's effects on behavior, or reactivity to the stressor.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

The effects of cue exposure on reaction time in male alcoholics.

The present study investigates reaction time (RT) as a measure of attentional deficits produced during alcohol cue exposure. Twenty-four male alcoholic patients responded to a series of computer-generated tones as rapidly as possible during baseline and again during either an alcohol cue exposure period or exposure to a control beverage (water). Patients required increased time to respond to the tones when exposed to alcohol cues. No such increase in RT was found during exposure to a control beverage. In addition, RT was significantly correlated with self-reported urge to drink. These data provide initial validation for the use of RT as an objective measure of cue reactivity. Both theoretical and clinical implications for the use of RT as a measure of the effects of cue exposure are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Effects of alcohol on self-appraisal.

The present study explored the effects of alcohol on the content of a self-disclosing speech. Subjects were male social drinkers who received either a 0.85 g/kg dose of alcohol or a placebo. Subjects presented a 3-minute speech about what they liked and disliked about their physical appearance. Audiotapes of these speeches were rated by two raters for number and duration of positive and negative items disclosed during the speech. Intoxicated subjects disclosed fewer negative items than sober subjects. In addition, intoxicated subjects were more likely to present negative attributes in a manner that was isolated from their self-concept than sober subjects. Alcohol did not affect disclosures of positive items. These results suggest that one negatively reinforcing effect of intoxication may be the strengthening of self-protective biases.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1993

An appraisal-disruption model of alcohol's effects on stress responses in social drinkers.

This article reviews the effects of alcohol on stress responses among social drinkers. Despite considerable research, the relationship between alcohol and stress has remained unclear. An appraisal-disruption model of alcohol's effects on stress responses is proposed, which attempts to integrate many divergent findings. According to this model, alcohol disrupts initial appraisal of stressful information by constraining the spread of activation of associated information previously established in long-term memory. The conditions under which such disruption is likely to occur are outlined. Evidence relevant to each of the model's propositions is considered. It is concluded that the appraisal-disruption model provides a framework for integrating many of the findings from past investigations. Theoretical issues pertinent to the model are addressed.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1993

Heart rate as an index of stress response in alcohol administration research: a critical review.

Heart rate has been a widely used measure in experimental investigations of alcohol and stress. Meaningful interpretations from this measure, however, may be threatened due to methodological problems. This article critically reviews alcohol administration studies that have utilized heart rate as an index of stress response. Potential confounds stemming from the use of heart rate are identified and suggestions for its future use are presented. Implications for high-risk studies are discussed. It is concluded that (a) the amount of time provided for the absorption of an alcohol or placebo beverage is highly correlated with postdrink heart rate change, (b) the magnitude of this postdrink heart rate change is highly associated with the probability of finding a subsequent stress response dampening effect, and (c) offspring of alcoholics appear to manifest a heightened heart rate response to alcohol, which may account for apparent enhanced stress response dampening effects among these subjects.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1993

Alcohol and aggression: a social information processing analysis.

The present study represents a preliminary exploration of the effects of alcohol on aggression (a hypothetical response to a videotaped provocation), using a social information processing model. Subjects were male social drinkers who received either a control beverage (ginger ale), placebo, .45 g/kg alcohol or .85 g/kg alcohol. Subjects observed a series of videotaped scenes of potential conflict occurring in the lounge of a college dormitory. In these scenes, an intruder switched the channel on a television set without asking the person watching for permission. The four groups were similar in their ability to encode and interpret social cues. Subjects in the 0.85 g/kg group were less able to generate competent (nonaggressive) solutions and were less likely than controls to select adaptive (nonaggressive) solutions. Subjects in the .85 g/kg group were more likely than control subjects to respond aggressively after being frustrated by the intruder's negative reaction to the initial attempt to resolve the conflict.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Experimental design in alcohol administration research: limitations and alternatives in the manipulation of dosage-set.

This article reviews literature on the utility of different experimental designs in human alcohol administration research, with particular attention to the balanced-placebo design (BPD). Many believe the BPD can orthogonally manipulate alcohol's pharmacological effects and the effects of dosage-set (believing that one has consumed a certain amount of alcohol). However, research has accumulated that suggests these effects cannot be disentangled at moderate to high doses of alcohol. The strengths and weaknesses of a number of experimental designs are discussed with regard to the variables that designs can assess or control. Methodological issues in deception conditions and manipulation checks are reviewed. Topics in need of empirical investigation are highlighted. It is concluded that the appropriate alcohol administration design depends on the particular theoretical and methodological issues of a research program.

Alcohol Drinking↗