The Effect of Non-specific Response Inhibition Training on Alcohol Consumption: An Intervention

Objective: Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of alcohol-related disease and injury. Poor response inhibition; the inability to intentionally override a pre-potent response, has been associated with greater alcohol consumption. The aim of the present study was to clarify if non-specifi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bartsch, A., Kothe, E., Allom, Vanessa, Mullan, Barbara, Houben, K.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50480
_version_ 1848758483421233152
author Bartsch, A.
Kothe, E.
Allom, Vanessa
Mullan, Barbara
Houben, K.
author_facet Bartsch, A.
Kothe, E.
Allom, Vanessa
Mullan, Barbara
Houben, K.
author_sort Bartsch, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Objective: Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of alcohol-related disease and injury. Poor response inhibition; the inability to intentionally override a pre-potent response, has been associated with greater alcohol consumption. The aim of the present study was to clarify if non-specific response inhibition training could improve response inhibition, and reduce alcohol consumption. Method: One hundred and sixty-eight undergraduates were randomly assigned to either an inhibition or active control condition, and completed a stop-signal task once a day for four consecutive days. The inhibition condition comprised a stop-signal task with a high target density (50% stop-signals), while the active control comprised a stop-signal task with a lower target density (25% stop-signals) and the instruction to ignore the signal. Before and after the intervention, participants completed measures of response inhibition, and alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption was measured again at one month post-training. All parts of the study were completed online. Results: Contrary to the hypotheses, participants in the inhibition condition did not have lower levels of alcohol consumption, nor improved response inhibition after the intervention, compared to participants in the active control condition. Conclusion: It is suggested that response inhibition training needs to be specific to the target behaviour in order to be effective; however, that training did not improve response inhibition itself, calls into question the efficacy of this particular training paradigm. It is recommended that future response inhibition training paradigms consider how training intensity, and the format of administration, influences behavioural outcomes.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:44:42Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-50480
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:44:42Z
publishDate 2016
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-504802021-01-14T04:15:22Z The Effect of Non-specific Response Inhibition Training on Alcohol Consumption: An Intervention Bartsch, A. Kothe, E. Allom, Vanessa Mullan, Barbara Houben, K. Objective: Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of alcohol-related disease and injury. Poor response inhibition; the inability to intentionally override a pre-potent response, has been associated with greater alcohol consumption. The aim of the present study was to clarify if non-specific response inhibition training could improve response inhibition, and reduce alcohol consumption. Method: One hundred and sixty-eight undergraduates were randomly assigned to either an inhibition or active control condition, and completed a stop-signal task once a day for four consecutive days. The inhibition condition comprised a stop-signal task with a high target density (50% stop-signals), while the active control comprised a stop-signal task with a lower target density (25% stop-signals) and the instruction to ignore the signal. Before and after the intervention, participants completed measures of response inhibition, and alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption was measured again at one month post-training. All parts of the study were completed online. Results: Contrary to the hypotheses, participants in the inhibition condition did not have lower levels of alcohol consumption, nor improved response inhibition after the intervention, compared to participants in the active control condition. Conclusion: It is suggested that response inhibition training needs to be specific to the target behaviour in order to be effective; however, that training did not improve response inhibition itself, calls into question the efficacy of this particular training paradigm. It is recommended that future response inhibition training paradigms consider how training intensity, and the format of administration, influences behavioural outcomes. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50480 10.4172/2155-6105.1000260 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext
spellingShingle Bartsch, A.
Kothe, E.
Allom, Vanessa
Mullan, Barbara
Houben, K.
The Effect of Non-specific Response Inhibition Training on Alcohol Consumption: An Intervention
title The Effect of Non-specific Response Inhibition Training on Alcohol Consumption: An Intervention
title_full The Effect of Non-specific Response Inhibition Training on Alcohol Consumption: An Intervention
title_fullStr The Effect of Non-specific Response Inhibition Training on Alcohol Consumption: An Intervention
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Non-specific Response Inhibition Training on Alcohol Consumption: An Intervention
title_short The Effect of Non-specific Response Inhibition Training on Alcohol Consumption: An Intervention
title_sort effect of non-specific response inhibition training on alcohol consumption: an intervention
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50480