Lee Hogarth

2 papers in the library · publishing 2023-2024

Papers

Ultra-Brief Breath Counting (Mindfulness) Training Abolishes Negative Affect-Induced Alcohol Motivation in Hazardous Community Drinkers.

Mindfulness January 1, 2024 Alexandra Elissavet Bakou, Lorna Hardy, Ruichong Shuai et al.

Brief breath counting training reduced the increase in alcohol motivation caused by negative mood in hazardous community drinkers. In two online studies (n=122 and n=111) and one in-person pub study (n=62), participants were randomized to a 6-minute breath counting exercise or a control audio. Breath counting eliminated the negative mood-induced rise in alcohol craving (Study 2) and the stress-induced increase in choosing alcohol over food pictures in a pub setting (Study 3). Study 1 found reduced craving but could not demonstrate reversal of a mood-induced increase because the mood induction did not raise craving. Breath counting appears a practical method for reducing emotional triggers of alcohol motivation.

DOI: 10.1007/s12671-024-02315-8 Full text Mindfulness Alcohol craving Breath counting Mood induction +1

Interoceptive attention or merely distraction? An examination of the effects of brief breath counting training on stress-induced alcohol-seeking behavior.

Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology February 1, 2023 Luke Herchenroeder, Eleanor Williams, Emma Wedell et al.

A brief mindfulness exercise (breath counting) and a simple distraction task (cross counting) both reduced stress-induced alcohol cravings to a similar degree in young adult drinkers. The study randomly assigned 278 university students to breath counting, distraction, stress-only, or no-stress conditions. Stress increased preference for alcohol pictures, but both breath counting and distraction attenuated this effect equally, and the difference faded in the second half of the choice test. The authors argue that the therapeutic effect of breath counting on stress-induced alcohol-seeking may stem from distraction or cognitive load rather than a unique state of mindful acceptance.

DOI: 10.1037/pha0000557 Full text