Figure - available from: Frontiers in Psychiatry
This content is subject to copyright.
Explicit expectancies (Likert scale) for each of the three affective IAT dimensions. Means + standard deviations are depicted per group. *p < 0.001.
Source publication
Cognitive biases, including implicit memory associations are thought to play an important role in the development of addictive behaviors. The aim of the present study was to investigate implicit affective memory associations in heavy cannabis users. Implicit positive-arousal, sedation, and negative associations toward cannabis were measured with th...
Similar publications
The use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs in the population is a complex issue that affects the health sector representing a public health emergency. In Brazil it has been care service in an open system of social reintegration, the Center for Psychosocial Care (CAPS). The objective of the study was to analyze the search for help from people who...
Citations
... The ILF connects occipital with temporal areas and is suggested to play an important role in visual guidance of cognition.65 A functional hypothesis could be that lower FA in the uncinate fasciculus and ILF plays a role in the biassed cognitions in response to (visual) cannabis cues towards cannabis use that are often observed in heavy cannabis users.[66][67][68] However, this is a speculative notion and more research is needed to investigate the implications and mechanisms underlying the current findings.CUD treatment demands have increased 75% over the last 10 years in Europe,3 sharply contrasting with the lack of studies specifically investigating CUD-related mechanisms. ...
Despite the significant societal and personal burden of cannabis use, the impact of long‐term use and Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) on white matter microstructure is still unclear. Previous studies show inconsistent findings, in part due to heterogeneity in methodology, variable severity of cannabis use, and potential confounding effects of other mental health issues and substance use. The goal of this diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study was to compare whole‐brain white matter microstructure between 39 near daily cannabis users and 28 controls closely matched on age, sex, alcohol use, cigarette use and mental health. Within the group of cannabis users, associations between white matter microstructure and recent cannabis use, dependence severity, and age of onset and duration of weekly use were investigated. White matter microstructure did not differ between cannabis users and controls and did not covary with recent cannabis use, dependence severity, or duration of use. Earlier onset of weekly cannabis use was related to lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in various sections of the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus and uncinate fasciculus. These findings suggest that long‐term near‐daily cannabis use does not necessarily affect white matter microstructure, but vulnerability may be higher during adolescence. These findings underscore the importance of sample composition and warrant further studies that investigate the moderating role of age of onset in the impact of cannabis on the brain. White matter microstructure did not differ between 39 near‐daily cannabis users and 28 controls closely matched on age, sex, alcohol use, cigarette use and mental health. Within the group of cannabis users, earlier onset of weekly cannabis use was related to lower Fractional Anisotropy in various sections of the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus and uncinate fasciculus.
... For example, menopausal women and women suffering from PMS/PMDD reported expecting cannabis to relieve these symptoms, but the expectancies varied inversely with problems (Slavin et al., 2017;Slavin et al., 2016). In contrast, regular and heavy users expectations of global negative effects did increase with problems (Beraha, Cousijn, Hermanides, Goudriaan, & Wiers, 2013). Ideally, expectations of relief from vulvodynia would not lead to inordinate or problematic use. ...
Medical marijuana has a long history of use as an analgesic for chronic pain disorders, including dyspareunia (pain during intercourse), a hallmark of the rare chronic pain disorder vulvodynia. Many women's health topics remain under investigated. Few studies address cannabis's potential to treat vulvodynia symptoms despite their dramatic impact on quality of life. Women who had used cannabis and who reported experiencing vulvodynia symptoms (N = 38) completed an online survey assessing symptoms, expectancies regarding cannabis-associated relief from vulvodynia symptoms, cannabis use, and cannabis-related problems. Generally, women expected cannabis to have moderate to large effects on vulvodynia symptoms (d = .63-1.19). Nevertheless, women expected greater relief for burning/stabbing pain than for itching and pain associated with tampon insertion, as well greater relief for dyspareunia than for pain associated with tampon insertion. Those whose symptoms were worse expected more relief from cannabis treatment. Expectations of cannabis-induced relief did not increase frequency of use or problems. These data support the idea that further work is warranted, including placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials to rule out any placebo effects and identify potential adverse side effects from a cannabis treatment for vulvodynia.
... First, IAT performance has been compared directly between marijuana users and nonusers. Marijuana users exhibited stronger associations between marijuana and relaxation (Schmits et al., 2015) and between marijuana and positive arousal (Beraha et al., 2013), whereas nonusers demonstrated stronger associations between marijuana and negative valence (Beraha et al., 2013;Field et al., 2004). Second, studies have also evaluated predictive validity and found that marijuana use is related to stronger associations between marijuana and excitation (Ames et al., 2007), and that marijuana use and related problems are associated with weaker associations between marijuana and negative valence (Schmits et al., 2015). ...
... First, IAT performance has been compared directly between marijuana users and nonusers. Marijuana users exhibited stronger associations between marijuana and relaxation (Schmits et al., 2015) and between marijuana and positive arousal (Beraha et al., 2013), whereas nonusers demonstrated stronger associations between marijuana and negative valence (Beraha et al., 2013;Field et al., 2004). Second, studies have also evaluated predictive validity and found that marijuana use is related to stronger associations between marijuana and excitation (Ames et al., 2007), and that marijuana use and related problems are associated with weaker associations between marijuana and negative valence (Schmits et al., 2015). ...
Objective:
Substantial research has demonstrated the importance of implicit cognitive processes underlying substance use. However, there is a scarcity of research on implicit processes related to marijuana use. We adapted and tested the predictive validity (concurrent and prospective) of an implicit measure evaluating the strength of associations between marijuana and harm based on research demonstrating less marijuana use among individuals who report stronger explicit attitudes of marijuana's harms.
Method:
A community sample of 187 U.S. young adults living in a state with legal recreational marijuana use completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) evaluating marijuana-harm associations and measures of marijuana use and risk of cannabis use disorder (CUD) over time.
Results:
The marijuana-harm IAT had good internal consistency, and scores did not vary as a function of biological sex, legal age status for recreational marijuana use, or college student status. Scores did vary as a function of lifetime and recent use such that lifetime and current abstainers had stronger marijuana-harm associations. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression models demonstrated that marijuana-harm IAT scores significantly predicted concurrent risk of CUD and use such that stronger marijuana-harm associations were associated with less use and risk of CUD. Results evaluating outcomes longitudinally found limited support for IAT scores predicting increases in use over time and no support for predicting changes in risk of CUD over time.
Conclusions:
Findings provide preliminary evidence that stronger marijuana-harm associations may act as a protective factor against marijuana use and risk of CUD.
... Outside the smoking research field, an implicit positive attitude toward alcohol measured using an IAT was found to be associated with alcohol problems, including binge drinking episodes and difficulty controlling alcohol use (Ostafin, Kassman, de Jong, & van Hemel-Ruiter, 2014;Palfai & Ostafin, 2003), and selfidentification as a drinker was associated with alcohol consumption, problems, and craving (Lindgren et al., 2013). Compared to controls, heavy cannabis users had stronger implicit positivearousal associations toward cannabis and weaker implicit negative association toward cannabis (Beraha, Cousijn, Hermanides, Goudriaan, & Wiers, 2013). In terms of treatment, positive identification with drug and alcohol use was associated with retention in residential rehabilitation programs (Wolff, von Hippel, Brener, & von Hippel, 2015), and a positive implicit attitude toward drugs was associated with drug treatment relapse (Marhe, Waters, van de Wetering, & Franken, 2013). ...
It is unclear whether nicotine and perceived nicotine exposure can influence automatic evaluations of cigarette stimuli. In the present study, we investigated the effects of nicotine dose and instructed dose on motivational responses to smoking cues. Forty overnight nicotine-deprived smokers completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) at each of the four laboratory sessions in a balanced-placebo design that crossed nicotine dose (Given-NIC [given nicotine] vs. Given-DENIC [given denicotinized]) with instructed dose expectancy (Told-NIC [told-nicotine] vs. Told-DENIC. [told-denicotinized]). We measured participants' behavioral performance, including reaction time (RT) and accuracy rate, and the early posterior negativity (EPN) component using the event-related potential (ERP) technique to the target pictures. During congruent trials when the categorization condition was smoking or unpleasant, smokers had greater classification accuracy, shorter RT latency, and greater EPN amplitudes compared to the incongruent trials when the categorization condition was smoking or pleasant. The Given-NIC condition was associated with increased classification accuracy, longer RT latency, and decreased EPN amplitudes compared to the Given-DENIC condition. Similarly, the Told-NIC condition was associated with increased accuracy and decreased EPN amplitudes compared to the Told-DENIC condition, but with shorter RT latency. Cigarette-related pictures produced greater EPN amplitudes than neutral pictures. Both behavioral and ERP results suggest that smokers have negative implicit attitudes toward smoking. While both nicotine dose and expected dose facilitated stimulus categorization, there was no evidence that either factor altered smokers' negative attitudes toward smoking cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
... Increased motivation for illicit substances has been associated with several cognitive biases including attentional biases [282][283][284][285][286][287], approach biases [283,284,[288][289][290] and affective biases [291][292][293][294]. One method for reducing this motivation, therefore, has been to use training tasks that are designed to reduce these cognitive biases, and recently, these training tasks have been explored as potential interventions for overeating. ...
With the obesity epidemic being largely attributed to overeating, much research has been aimed at understanding the psychological causes of overeating and using this knowledge to develop targeted interventions. Here, we review this literature under a model of food addiction and present evidence according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) criteria for substance use disorders. We review several innovative treatments related to a food addiction model ranging from cognitive intervention tasks to neuromodulation techniques. We conclude that there is evidence to suggest that, for some individuals, food can induce addictive-type behaviours similar to those seen with other addictive substances. However, with several DSM-5 criteria having limited application to overeating, the term ‘food addiction’ is likely to apply only in a minority of cases. Nevertheless, research investigating the underlying psychological causes of overeating within the context of food addiction has led to some novel and potentially effective interventions. Understanding the similarities and differences between the addictive characteristics of food and illicit substances should prove fruitful in further developing these interventions.
... Positive implicit associations have notably been found among alcoholic patients (Barkby et al. 2012), cigarette smokers (Payne et al. 2007;Woud et al. 2016), cannabis users (Cousijn et al. 2011), cocaine users (Wiers et al. 2007b), heroin users , problem gamblers , and problem video gamers (Yen et al. 2011). Similarly, approach and avoidance automatic tendencies have been found in alcohol dependence (Barkby et al. 2012;Field et al. 2008), nicotine dependence (Mogg et al. 2005), cannabis use (Beraha et al. 2013), and problem gambling (Boffo et al. 2018). ...
Decision-making impairments play a pivotal role in the emergence and maintenance of addictive disorders. However, a sound conceptualization of decision making as an umbrella construct, encompassing its cognitive, affective, motivational, and physiological subcomponents, is still lacking, preventing an efficient evaluation of the heterogeneity of decision-making impairments and the development of tailored treatment. This paper thus unfolds the various processes involved in decision making by adopting a critical approach of prominent dual- or triadic-process models, which postulate that decision making is influenced by the interplay of impulsive-automatic, reflective-controlled, and interoceptive processes. Our approach also focuses on social cognition processes, which play a pivotal role in decision making and addictive disorders but were largely ignored in previous dual- or triadic-process models. We propose here a theoretical framework in which a range of coordinated processes are first identified on the basis of their theoretical and clinical relevance. Each selected process is then defined before reviewing available results underlining its role in addictive disorders (i.e., substance use, gambling, and gaming disorders). Laboratory tasks for measuring each process are also proposed, initiating a preliminary process-based decision-making assessment battery. This original approach may offer an especially informative view of the constitutive features of decision-making impairments in addiction. As prior research has implicated these features as risk factors for the development and maintenance of addictive disorders, our processual approach sets the scene for novel and transdiagnostic experimental and applied research avenues.
... In a recent menopausal study, participant's high cannabis treatment expectancies inversely linked to cannabis-related problems (Slavin et al. 2016). Alternatively, global negative expectancies of cannabis in regular and heavy cannabis users have been found to covary with cannabis related problems (Hayaki et al. 2010;Beraha et al. 2013). ...
... These women may likely hold other motives and expectancies regarding cannabis use that could are associated with an increased risk for problems, such as global negative expectancies (e.g. Beraha et al. 2013;Hayaki et al. 2010;Pearson et al. 2017). Future research should examine how symptoms, cannabis use, and treatment expectancies covary with cannabis-related problems among a population of medical users who are primarily consuming cannabis for a specific condition. ...
Cannabis has been found to alleviate a wide array of medical symptoms, including those that overlap with physical and emotional symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), including insomnia, irritability, depression, and joint pain. Little work has addressed the use of cannabis as a treatment for PMS or PMDD or the role of women's cannabis treatment expectancies as a predictor of consumption. Women who reported having experienced PMS and PMDD and endorsed lifetime cannabis use (N ¼ 145), completed an online survey assessing their frequency of cannabis use, PMS/PMDD symptoms, expectancies of cannabis-induced relief from symptoms, as well as cannabis-related problems. Women were found to hold meaningful expectancies that cannabis would treat all PMS/PMDD symptoms, except for overeating/food cravings. Cannabis treatment expectancies were positively associated with PMS/PMDD symptoms and with monthly cannabis use, and were negatively associated with cannabis-related problems. Research should further examine the relationship of cannabis treatment expectancies with individuals' cannabis use, as findings indicate the potential for these expectancies to serve a punitive or protective role in the development of cannabis-related problems. Increased research on how cannabis might ameliorate symptoms of PMS and PMDD could help establish an alternative treatment plan that offers relief with fewer negative side effects. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Expectancies related to the effects of cannabis use play an important role in its consumption in young adults (Beraha, Cousijn, Hermanides, Goudriaan, & Wiers, 2013;Gaher & Simons, 2007;Galen & Henderson, 1999;Simons & Arens, 2007) and adolescents (Kristjansson, Agrawal, Lynskey, & Chassin, 2012;Neighbors, Geisner & Lee, 2008;Skenderian, Siegel, Crano, Alvaro, & Lac, 2008). Indeed, as part of the normal learning process, representations and expectancies exist even before the first consumption of a substance, and these cognitions could be considered as potential components for prevention strategies (Wiers et al., 2003). ...
Teenagers commonly use cannabis. Expectancies related to the effects of cannabis play an important role in its consumption and are frequently measured with the Marijuana Effect Expectancies Questionnaire (MEEQ). This study aims to assess the psychometric properties (factor structure, internal consistency reliability, criterion validity) of the French MEEQ. A sample of 1,343 non-clinical teenagers (14–18 years) were recruited to answer a self-report questionnaire; 877 of them responded twice (one-year interval). A four-factor structure was obtained: Cognitive Impairment and Negative, Relaxation and Social Facilitation, Perceptual Enhancement and Craving and Negative Behavioral Effect Expectancies. It is concluded that the French MEEQ constitutes an appropriate tool to measure cannabis effect expectancies among adolescents.
... However, very little is known concerning implicit cannabis use effect expectancies in adolescence. Indeed, among young adults, studies have reported that cannabis users have less negative associations for cannabis-related words (Field et al., 2004) and that heavy cannabis users have stronger implicit positive-arousal associations (Beraha et al., 2013). Another study found no correlation between cannabis use and implicit association in young adulthood (Dekker et al., 2010). ...
... However, our results suggest a clear discrepancy between implicit and explicit measures, suggesting that they assess divergent constructs. As Beraha et al. (2013) suggested, implicit and explicit measures could rely on different motivational processes. Indeed, Hofmann et al. (2005) highlighted several possible explanations for the low correlations between explicit and implicit measures, including motivational influences that could bias explicit measures (e.g., social desirability) but not implicit ones. ...
... In other words, adolescents who had already tried cannabis reported more relaxation implicit expectancies and less negative explicit expectancies. Similar results had been reported for adult heavy cannabis users (Beraha et al., 2013). Our results thus generalize this observation to the onset of cannabis use in adolescence. ...
... Although externalizing psychiatric disorders like ADHD and conduct disorder were common to non-dependent and dependent users, internalizing psychiatric disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders were uniquely associated with dependence. Combined, the 283 almost daily cannabis users that participated in my previous studies revealed a correlation of r = 0.50 between cannabis use-related problems and depression symptoms (e.g., Cousijn et al., 2012;Beraha et al., 2013;Cousijn et al., 2013a,b). Similarly as in SUDs, neurocognitive models of depression (Weir et al., 2012) and anxiety disorders (Bruhl et al., 2014) stress the importance of dyscontrol over motivational processes and abnormal functioning of the underlying brain systems in the emergence of these disorders. ...
