The effect of internet-based working memory training on automatic preferences for alcohol use in a clinical sample.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 168

Inclusion Criteria

Alcohol dependence: diagnosed according to criteria DSM IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000);Participants will be screened with the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT; Saunders et al.1993), and are only allowed to participate when they score 8 or higher on the AUDIT (i.e., the cut-off score for hazardous drinking; Saunders et al. 1993). ;Age over 18 years;A minimum of 4 years of formal schooling and no history of mental retardation;Native Dutch speaker;Mental competency to give informed consent. Mental competency as defined by the Dutch law (WGBO: Wet of Geneeskundige Behandel Overeenkomst) is determined by the medical specialist (e.g. psychiatrist) based on the patient*s health record, observations and conversation with the regular therapist. If necessary, the psychiatrist will have a short conversation with the patient. The concerning psychiatrists are: Dr. Michael Wellner, Dr. Robert Hilse, Dr. Claudia Decker and Dr. An Joos. They are all employees of Addiction Care of the Mondriaan Zorggroep.;Participants must have access (preferable at their own home) to a computer with an internet connection.

Exclusion Criteria

AUDIT score lower than 8 (the cut-off score for hazardous drinking; Saunders et al. 1993);History of acquired brain injury (e.g. cerebral contusion, cerebrovascular accident);Participants who show signs of poor compliance (e.g. not completing a session in time and session loss) and/or poor response on the questionnaires will be excluded from the experiment by the researchers. ;Polydrug users are excluded from the study when their primary drug (core addiction) is different than alcohol. Possible polydrug use will be registered.

Study & Design

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>We are interested in the difference in performance of our participants on the<br /><br>three timepoints (pretest, posttest and follow-up)<br /><br><br /><br>- Working memory performance (visuospatial working memory taak, backward digit<br /><br>span, letter span taak)<br /><br>- Automatic preferences for alcohol (Implicit Association Test)<br /><br><br /><br>See section 7.1.1 of the research protocol for an elaborated<br /><br>desciption/information. </p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>- Alcohol use and relapse (Time Line Follow Back Questionnaire)<br /><br>- Working memory (equal, but not trained task)<br /><br>- Executive functioning (Stroop task, Concept Shifting Test, Letter Digit<br /><br>Coding Test)<br /><br>- Control (Mastery questionnaire)<br /><br>- Approach/avoidance of alcohol (Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol<br /><br>Questionnaire)<br /><br>- Craving (Visual analogue scale)<br /><br>- Motivation to change drinking behavior questionnaire<br /><br>- Self-efficacy questionnaire<br /><br>- Intelligence (Groninger Intelligence Test)<br /><br>- Memory (verbal learning test)<br /><br>- Psychological wellbeing (Symptom Check List 90 )<br /><br>- Completement of the working memory training<br /><br>- Number of excluded subejcts/ drop outs<br /><br><br /><br>See section 7.1.2 en 7.1.3 of the research protocol for an elaborated<br /><br>desciption/information. </p><br>