Effects of Alcohol and Mood on Attention
Condition: Suicidal Ideas
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Acute use of alcohol is related to increased risk for suicide. However, our understanding of
      this problem is hindered by the lack of experimental tests of conditions underlying the
      alcohol use-suicide relationship. The attention allocation model (AAM) proposes that alcohol
      intoxication limits individuals' focus to salient cues in their environment. Thus, acute use
      of alcohol (AUA) during negative mood states may cause people to focus their attention
      towards suicide-related cues in their environment, thus increasing their risk for suicide
      while intoxicated. The proposed pilot study tests the AAM by exploring the combined effects
      of AUA, mood, and alcohol expectancies on attentional bias towards suicide-related cues. The
      proposed study will explore the combined impact of AUA and negative mood on attentional bias
      towards suicide in a sample of community adults. The investigators will further explore
      whether individual differences in alcohol expectancies influence these associations. The
      investigators will conduct a 2 by 2 (alcohol/placebo by negative mood/positive mood),
      between-subjects experiment involving alcohol administration, a well-established mood
      induction paradigm, and a performance-based dependent measure of attention towards
      suicide-related cues. The investigators expect that individuals in the negative mood-alcohol
      condition to show the greatest suicide-related attentional bias. The investigators expect
      that alcohol expectancies related to suicide will strengthen this association, and that
      positive mood alcohol expectancies will weaken this association. This pilot study will
      provide an initial test of the feasibility of this project and the hypotheses. This study
      will form the basis for a larger scale study able to test the effects.
    

Detailed description: 
      This is a pilot study designed to explore the combined effects of acute use of alcohol, mood,
      and alcohol expectancies on attentional bias towards suicide. Community adults (n = 120) will
      be recruited from the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus and greater Birmingham area
      through distribution of flyers and posts to social media sites (i.e., Facebook and
      Craigslist). The investigators are recruiting individuals who are ages 21-65, generally
      healthy, without current psychiatric disorders, distress, or suicidal ideation, and able to
      safely consume alcohol. Interested individuals will telephone our research lab, and an
      initial telephone screening will take place to exclude ineligible participants. Eligible
      participants will attend an initial study session (lasting about one hour), where informed
      consent will be obtained,eligibility criteria will be more thoroughly assessed, and baseline
      measures (e.g., alcohol expectancies) will be completed. Participants who remain eligible
      will be scheduled for a second session, lasting between 3-10 hours (depending on condition),
      and will be randomly assigned (individually) to an alcohol condition (alcohol-placebo) and a
      mood condition (negative-positive mood). Participants in the alcohol condition will be
      administered alcoholic beverages that will raise their breath alcohol content to .08.
      Participants in the placebo condition will be told they are receiving alcohol but will
      receive a nonalcoholic beverage that smells and tastes like alcohol. Participants will
      participate in a mood induction procedure that involves listening to music and reading
      statements about the self that are designed to induce a temporary mood state (positive or
      negative). Immediately following the mood induction, participants will rate their mood using
      a rating scale and then will complete a computerized assessment of their attentional bias
      towards suicide-related words (i.e., the Suicide Stroop). This measure involves naming colors
      of words that vary in meaning (neutral, happy, depressed, and suicide-related words).
      Participants' response times to name the color of suicide-related words are compared to
      response times to name neutral words, creating a score of suicide-related attentional bias.
      Following completion of this task, individuals in the placebo condition will complete a
      post-study interview, where their experiences and the effectiveness of deception will be
      assessed. Participants will be debriefed and the deception and reasons for it will be
      revealed. Participants' suicide risk will be assessed and they will be allowed to leave if
      risk is low (which the investigators anticipate will be the case for all participants).
      Individuals in the alcoholic beverage condition will complete the same post-study procedures
      but after their breath alcohol content lowers to .03. While awaiting their breath alcohol
      content to lower, these participants will be provided with a comfortable area to rest and
      watch or read entertainment. They will be provided a full meal and nonalcoholic beverages and
      will be encouraged to drink some water. Participants' driver's license or government-issued
      ID will be held by study personnel until their breath alcohol content lowers to .03.
      Participants will not be allowed to leave until their breath alcohol content lowers to .03,
      and they pass a field sobriety test. All participants will be provided with cab fare for a
      safe ride home. Safety checks will be performed for all participants the evening of, day
      following, and week following the study appointment.
    

Intervention name(s): Alcohol administration; Placebo administration; Positive mood induction; Negative mood induction
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Participants in the alcoholic beverage group will be provided a dose of 95% alcohol (0.99g/kg for males and 0.90 g/kg for females body weight) distributed in two equally spaced beverages (mixed with orange juice 1:5 ratio). This dose will produce a breath alcohol content ranging between .08-.10.; Individuals in the placebo condition will receive orange juice with 4 ml of alcohol layered on top of the juice. Ethanol will be sprayed on the rims of the glasses.; Participants will be randomized to either positive mood induction procedure. Both conditions involve listening to music that reliably induces positive mood, while simultaneously reading self-referent statements that also induce either positive mood. This procedure lasts about 10 minutes and produces a transient mood state that passes by the end of the study.; Participants will be randomized to either negative mood induction procedure. Both conditions involve listening to music that reliably induces sad mood, while simultaneously reading self-referent statements that also induce either sad mood. This procedure lasts about 10 minutes and produces a transient mood state that passes by the end of the study.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Basic Science