Attentional Biases and Their Association with Substance-Use-Related Problems and Addictive Behaviors: The Utility of a Gamified Value-Modulated Attentional Capture Task

René Freichel; Erynn Christensen; Lana Mrkonja; Peter J. de Jong; Janna Cousijn; Ingmar Franken; Murat Yücel; Rico Lee; Ilya M. Veer; Lucy Albertella; Reinout W. Wiers

Addictive Behaviors Reports (Jun 2024)

Attentional Biases and Their Association with Substance-Use-Related Problems and Addictive Behaviors: The Utility of a Gamified Value-Modulated Attentional Capture Task

René Freichel,
Erynn Christensen,
Lana Mrkonja,
Peter J. de Jong,
Janna Cousijn,
Ingmar Franken,
Murat Yücel,
Rico Lee,
Ilya M. Veer,
Lucy Albertella,
Reinout W. Wiers

Affiliations

René Freichel: Addiction Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT)-lab, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Erynn Christensen: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia BrainPark, Clayton, Australia
Lana Mrkonja: Addiction Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT)-lab, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Peter J. de Jong: Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
Janna Cousijn: Center for Substance Use and Addiction Research (CESAR), Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Ingmar Franken: Center for Substance Use and Addiction Research (CESAR), Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Murat Yücel: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia BrainPark, Clayton, Australia; QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Rico Lee: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia; BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia BrainPark, Clayton, Australia
Ilya M. Veer: Addiction Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT)-lab, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Lucy Albertella: BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia BrainPark, Clayton, Australia
Reinout W. Wiers: Addiction Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT)-lab, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Center for Urban Mental Health, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 19
p. 100534

Abstract

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Background: Attentional biases towards reward stimuli have been implicated in substance use-related problems. The value-modulated attentional capture (VMAC) task assesses such reward-related biases. The VMAC task widely used in lab studies tends to be monotonous and susceptible to low effort. We therefore tested a gamified online version of the VMAC that aimed to increase participant engagement. Our goal was to examine how VMAC is associated with substance use-related problems and addictive behaviors, and whether this association is moderated by cognitive control. Methods: We recruited 285 participants from an online community, including heavy alcohol users. All participants completed a novel gamified version of the VMAC task, measures of substance use and addictive behaviors (addictive-like eating behavior, problematic smartphone use), the WebExec measure of problems with executive functions, and the Stroop Adaptive Deadline Task (SDL) as a measure of cognitive control. Results: The gamified VMAC task successfully identified value-modulated attentional capture effects towards high-reward stimuli. We found no significant associations between VMAC scores, problematic alcohol or cannabis use, addictive behaviors, or any moderation by a behavioral measure of cognitive control. Exploratory analyses revealed that self-reported cognitive problems were associated with more alcohol-, and cannabis-related problems, and addictive behaviors. Greater attentional capture (VMAC) was associated with more cannabis use-related problems among individuals with higher levels of self-reported cognitive problems. Conclusions: Our study is one of the first to demonstrate the utility of the gamified version of the VMAC task in capturing attentional reward biases. Self-reported problems with cognitive functions represent a key dimension associated with substance use-related problems and addictive behaviors.

Published in Addictive Behaviors Reports

ISSN: 2352-8532 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Philosophy. Psychology. Religion: Psychology; Social Sciences: Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/addictive-behaviors-reports

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