Alternative substance paradigm: Effectiveness of beverage blinding and effects on acute alcohol responses
Open accessAbstract
A fundamental goal of double-blind alcohol challenge studies is to reduce alcohol expectancies, though there is little research on the effectiveness of blinding procedures and their relationship to acute alcohol responses. This study examined social drinkers' perception of beverage content and related alcohol response during 3 separate double-blind experimental sessions with placebo, low-dose alcohol (0.4 g/kg), and high-dose alcohol (0.8 g/kg). Using the alternative substance paradigm, participants (N = 182) were informed that the beverage they consumed might contain alcohol, a stimulant, a sedative, or a placebo. At several time points, subjective and objective measures were obtained, and participants were asked to identify which substance they received. During both placebo and low-dose alcohol sessions, 33% and 50% of participants, respectively, did not correctly identify the beverage content; during the high-dose alcohol session, 20% did not correctly identify the beverage. Although correct and incorrect identifiers at any dose level did not differ on major background variables, drinking characteristics, or psychomotor performance during these sessions, they did differ on self-reported subjective responses, with greater sedation reported by incorrect identifiers in the placebo and high-dose conditions. In summary, results suggest that the alternative substance paradigm may be a viable option for alcohol laboratory studies, particularly for repeated sessions in within-subject designs and in cases in which the experimenter wants to reduce expectancy by not revealing a priori that alcohol is being administered.
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To reduce alcohol expectancy, the Alternative Substance Paradigm was used: participants were informed that their allocated beverage might contain a stimulant, sedative, alcohol, or a placebo, or a combination of these substances.
“To reduce alcohol expectancy, the Alternative Substance Paradigm(51) was used: participants were informed that their allocated beverage might contain a stimulant, sedative, alcohol, or a placebo, or a combination of these substances.”
From A Prospective 5-Year Re-examination of Alcohol Response in Heavy Drinkers Progressing in Alcohol Use Disorder (2016) · cites this paper as [51]
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- Authors
- Conrad, M., McNamara, P., & King, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Chicago (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Venue
- Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology
- Published
- 2012-10
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 382-389
- ISSN
- 1064-1297 (ISSN-L)
- 1936-2293
- PMC
- PMC4048031
- OpenAlex
- W2068905960
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health/NIAAA (R01-AA013746)
- Cancer Center (P30-CA14599)
- University of Chicago Institute for Translational Medicine
- National Center for Advancing Translational Science (M01-RR00055)
- NIH Roadmap for Medical Research
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Keywords
- alcohol expectancies, placebo effect, sedation, social drinkers, within-subjects design
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Ethanol, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Psychomotor Performance, Research Design, Young Adult
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