Exploring the Decision to Drink (More) Alcohol Following Manipulations of Stress and Social Context

Purpose

This preregistration documents an experiment examining the effects of acute stress and social context on alcohol-related decision-making. The study uses a 2x2 factorial design (stress vs. control × social vs. alone) with dyadic recruitment.

Conditions

  • Psychological Stress
  • Social Interaction

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 21 Years and 50 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Drinking alcohol at least once a week - Consuming 4 (female) or 5 (male) drinks in one occasion at least once a month

Exclusion Criteria

  • Currently pregnant or trying to become pregnant - Past or current treatment for alcohol use - Past or current medical condition that contraindicates alcohol use - Past or current reaction to alcohol that contraindicates alcohol use - Past or current medication that contraindicates alcohol use

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Factorial Assignment
Primary Purpose
Basic Science
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Stress Alone 		These participants will undergo a stress induction and will make decisions about consuming alcohol alone.
  • Other: Stress
    Participants randomly assigned to the stress condition will undergo the standard protocol of the Trier Social Stress Test. Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will undergo a validated, non-stressful control procedure mirroring the TSST.
Experimental
Stress Social 		These participants will undergo a stress induction and will make decisions about consuming alcohol with a known peer.
  • Other: Stress
    Participants randomly assigned to the stress condition will undergo the standard protocol of the Trier Social Stress Test. Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will undergo a validated, non-stressful control procedure mirroring the TSST.
  • Other: Social Context
    Participants randomly assigned to the social condition will make decisions about consuming alcohol with a known peer. Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will make decisions about consuming alcohol alone.
Experimental
Control Alone 		These participants will undergo a control induction and will make decisions about consuming alcohol alone.
  • Other: Stress
    Participants randomly assigned to the stress condition will undergo the standard protocol of the Trier Social Stress Test. Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will undergo a validated, non-stressful control procedure mirroring the TSST.
  • Other: Social Context
    Participants randomly assigned to the social condition will make decisions about consuming alcohol with a known peer. Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will make decisions about consuming alcohol alone.
Experimental
Control Social 		These participants will undergo a control induction and will make decisions about consuming alcohol with a known peer.
  • Other: Social Context
    Participants randomly assigned to the social condition will make decisions about consuming alcohol with a known peer. Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will make decisions about consuming alcohol alone.

Recruiting Locations

University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98195
Contact:
Jonas Dora, PhD
206-741-6330
jdora@uw.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
University of Washington

Study Contact

Jonas Dora
2067416330
jdora@uw.edu

Detailed Description

Behavioral data: Our first set of hypotheses tests whether the decision is influenced by stress and social context: H1a: Stress affects the decision between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, so that participants in the stress conditions choose alcoholic over non-alcoholic drinks more often compared to participants in the no stress conditions. H1b: Social context affects the decision between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, so that participants in the social conditions choose alcoholic over non-alcoholic drinks more often compared to participants in the alone conditions. H1c: We test two competing predictions: (I) The effect of stress on the decision between alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks is modulated by social context, so that the effect of stress is stronger for participants that are in the social condition. (II) The effect of stress on the decision between alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks is modulated by social context, so that the effect of stress is weaker for participants that are in the social condition Drift diffusion modeling: Our second set of hypotheses test how the decision might be influenced by stress and social context: H2a: Stress affects the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is more positive for participants in the stress conditions. H2b: Social context affects the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is more positive for participants in the social conditions. H2c: Stress and social context have an interactive effect on the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is either more or less positive for stressed participants who are in the social condition (in line with H1c).