Ecology

Research from State University of New York Provides New Insights into Addiction Medicine

  2012 FEB 17 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "The cue-reactivity paradigm has been used extensively in laboratory settings to study cue-specific craving responses to drug-related cues. However, this procedure has been used in only one study to assess craving in the drug user's natural environment (Warthen & Tiffany, 2009)," scientists in Buffalo, New York report.

  "The present study combined cue-reactivity with ecological momentary assessment (CREMA) to evaluate smokers' cue reactions in natural environments as a further validation and extension of this procedure. A total of 66 daily cigarette smokers carried a personal digital assistant (PDA) and had the opportunity to respond to 32 cue-reactivity sessions across 8 days. Cues were presented through in vivo and photographic modes. During in vivo sessions, participants handled and looked at a cigarette or neutral object, while during photographic sessions, participants looked at a smoking-related or neutral photograph on the PDA. Craving and mood were assessed before and after cue presentations. Cues were also presented in the laboratory both before (Lab 0 and after (Lab II) the 8-day CREMA procedure. Participants completed over 90% of cue-reactivity sessions delivered with the CREMA procedure. Analyses revealed robust cue-reactivity in the natural environment and laboratory across both modes of presentation. Photographic cues elicited significantly stronger cue-reactivity effects than in vivo cues across all sessions. The CREMA procedure has been shown to elicit robust cue-reactivity effects across multiple modes of cue presentation," wrote J.M. Wray and colleagues, State University of New York.

  The researchers concluded: "Results support the use of the CREMA procedure for examining cue-specific craving in the natural environment of smokers."

  Wray and colleagues published their study in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (Cue-Reactivity in the Natural Environment of Cigarette Smokers: The Impact of Photographic and In Vivo Smoking Stimuli. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 2011;25(4):733-737).

  For more information, contact J.M. Wray, SUNY Buffalo, Dept. of Psychol, Buffalo, NY 14260, United States.

  Publisher contact information for the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors is: Educational Publishing Foundation-American Psychological Assoc, 750 First St, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, USA.

  Keywords: City:Buffalo, State:New York, Country:United States, Region:North and Central America, Addiction Medicine

  This article was prepared by VerticalNews Ecology, Environment & Conservation editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2012, VerticalNews Ecology, Environment & Conservation via VerticalNews.com.