Mental imagery intervention for alcohol craving (Acronym: ACLIMAGE) V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Estimating the acute impact of competing mental imagery on craving in alcohol use disorder.
IRAS ID
295682
Contact name
John Marsden
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 30 days
Research summary
The role of mental imagery in alcohol misuse has been suggested as important by a number of cognitive and psychological theories of understanding addiction and addictive behaviour. One of these theories suggests that, when we crave, we elaborate on personalised mental imagery relating to that substance. This elaboration process relies on, in particular, the visual aspects of our working memory. Based on this idea, recent psychological interventions have asked people who are craving e.g. food or cigarettes to engage in alternative visual tasks (e.g. playing tetris, making a plasticine model), and found promising results in reducing levels of craving. Other studies have engaged visual aspects of working memory in generating alternative and personalised ‘positive/motivational’ mental images related to abstinence from drugs, and also found promising results.
However, few investigations exist into the role of mental imagery in alcohol misuse, or comparing how competing distraction tasks and mental imagery exercises impact craving for alcohol. This study will aim to provide a preliminary investigation into the comparison of a) a non-meaningful visual distraction task (playing Tetris) to b) generating a motivational/positive image in reducing craving for alcohol. It will measure and compare the effectiveness of each strategy in reducing self-reported alcohol craving for participants with alcohol problems, aiming to contribute to the development and expansion of targeted and efficacious treatment for alcohol misuse.
Participants will be asked to complete brief self-report measures, participate in a task to induce craving, after which they will engage in either playing Tetris first or imagining a positive/motivational mental image. After the first task, craving will be re-induced, and the participant will engage in the remaining task. Self-reported craving will be measured before and after each task, to measure the impact of the different interventions. This will occur in a single research appointment lasting 70-80 minutes.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/WM/0139
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jul 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion