A new, computer-based training programme has helped alcoholics cut down their intake.
Excessive drinkers who took part in the project had a “significant reduction” in their alcohol consumption which was maintained at the three month follow-up.
The research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, was initiated by two senior members of the School of Psychology at the University of Wales in Bangor, Professor Miles Cox and Dr Javad Fadardi.
The aim of the Alcohol Attention-Control Training Programme (AACTP) was to make drinkers pay less regard to alcohol. This made them feel more in control of their intake and consequently helped them drink less.
Professor Cox said AACTP was a “highly accessible tool in that it will eventually offer excessive drinkers the opportunity to participate in this training in their own home over the internet."
The AACTP method, developed by Professor Cox and Dr Fadardi is a computerised programme based on goal-setting techniques which had immediate feedback.
In one test, two bottles – an alcoholic and non-alcoholic one – appear on the computer screen each surrounded by a different colour. The participant must then identify the colour surrounding the non-alcoholic bottle as quickly as possible.
"This training causes people to become faster at ignoring alcoholic stimuli," Professor Cox said.
"Over a course of four sessions, our sample of excessive drinkers showed significant reductions in their attentional focus on alcohol which translated into lower alcohol consumption."
He said that one of the problems excessive drinkers faced was alcohol stimuli they constantly saw around them. These ranged from pictures of alcoholic beverages to bottles of alcohol in the local off-licence window or on the shelves of a supermarket.
"Excessive drinkers unconsciously pay too much attention to the alcohol-related stimuli that surround us all," Professor Cox said. "When excessive drinkers encounter drink-related stimuli, this activates automatic thought processes which stimulate them to want a drink and to actually take a drink.
“Hence the simple consequence of helping excessive drinkers pay less attention to alcohol in their environment is that they gain more confidence in their ability to control their own behaviour, and then they drink less."
He said the AACTP was now a “tried and tested training programme which can help improve the effectiveness of treatment for alcohol-related problems.”
He added: “It could be that AACTP is all that is required to halt alcohol abuse in an early stage drinker.
“But others may need further help to curb their drinking habit. While ACCTP can reduce a person’s bias towards alcohol, the reality for many is that when they stop drinking it creates a void in their lives. “Permanent change in drinking habits usually requires a person to restructure their lives in ways that can fill that void.”
The University of Wales research tested 220 drinkers. This sample included 40 social drinkers with an average age of 30 and an average intake of nine alcohol units a week; 68 heavy drinkers with an average age of 23 and an average weekly intake of 42 units; 50 excessive drinkers with an average age of 42 and an average weekly intake of 72 units.
All were tested for their “attentional bias” for alcohol. The excessive drinkers did the full course of four computerised sessions over one month.