TY - JOUR
T1 - Dissociation between wanting and liking for alcohol and caffeine
T2 - A test of the Incentive Sensitisation Theory
AU - Arulkadacham, Lilani J.
AU - Richardson, Ben
AU - Staiger, Petra K.
AU - Kambouropoulos, Nicolas
AU - O'Donnell, Renée L.
AU - Ling, Mathew
PY - 2017/7/1
Y1 - 2017/7/1
N2 - Limited human studies have directly tested the dissociation between wanting and liking with human substance users, a core tenet of the Incentive Sensitisation Theory (IST). The aim of this study is to test the dissociation between wanting and liking in humans across two commonly used licit substances, alcohol and caffeine. The STRAP-R (Sensitivity To Reinforcement of Addictive and other Primary Rewards) questionnaire was administered to 285 alcohol users (mean age=33.30, SD= 8.83) and 134 coffee users (mean age=33.05, SD=8.10) ranging in their levels of substance use to assess wanting and liking. Findings showed that in high risk alcohol users wanting may drive alcohol consumption more so than liking, compared with low risk alcohol users. However, wanting and liking did not significantly dissociate as alcohol consumption increased. These findings partially support IST. Additionally, IST was not supported in coffee users. It is possible that caffeine functions differently at the neurological level compared with alcohol, perhaps explaining the lack of dissociation emerging in coffee users as caffeine use increased. Nevertheless, the current study makes several contributions to IST research. Future studies should focus on utilising the STRAP-R with a clinically dependent sample to test the dissociation between wanting and liking.
AB - Limited human studies have directly tested the dissociation between wanting and liking with human substance users, a core tenet of the Incentive Sensitisation Theory (IST). The aim of this study is to test the dissociation between wanting and liking in humans across two commonly used licit substances, alcohol and caffeine. The STRAP-R (Sensitivity To Reinforcement of Addictive and other Primary Rewards) questionnaire was administered to 285 alcohol users (mean age=33.30, SD= 8.83) and 134 coffee users (mean age=33.05, SD=8.10) ranging in their levels of substance use to assess wanting and liking. Findings showed that in high risk alcohol users wanting may drive alcohol consumption more so than liking, compared with low risk alcohol users. However, wanting and liking did not significantly dissociate as alcohol consumption increased. These findings partially support IST. Additionally, IST was not supported in coffee users. It is possible that caffeine functions differently at the neurological level compared with alcohol, perhaps explaining the lack of dissociation emerging in coffee users as caffeine use increased. Nevertheless, the current study makes several contributions to IST research. Future studies should focus on utilising the STRAP-R with a clinically dependent sample to test the dissociation between wanting and liking.
KW - addiction
KW - alcohol
KW - caffeine
KW - dissociation
KW - humans
KW - Incentive Sensitisation Theory
KW - liking
KW - wanting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85022039902&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0269881117711711
DO - 10.1177/0269881117711711
M3 - Article
C2 - 28627332
AN - SCOPUS:85022039902
VL - 31
SP - 927
EP - 933
JO - Journal of Psychopharmacology
JF - Journal of Psychopharmacology
SN - 0269-8811
IS - 7
ER -