scholarly journals Cue-Elicited Anxiety and Alcohol Craving as Indicators of the Validity of ALCO-VR Software: A Virtual Reality Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Ghiţă ◽  
Olga Hernández-Serrano ◽  
Yolanda Fernández-Ruiz ◽  
Miquel Monras ◽  
Lluisa Ortega ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Group Method ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Clinical Tool ◽  
Alcohol Craving ◽  
Better Than

Background: This study is part of a larger project aiming to develop a virtual reality (VR) software to be implemented as a clinical tool for patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD). The study is based on previous research in which we identified factors that elicit craving for alcohol in a sample of AUD patients, and which led to the development of a virtual reality software to be used in cue exposure treatments of alcohol use disorder (ALCO-VR). The main objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of ALCO-VR to elicit cue-induced craving and anxiety responses among social drinkers (SD) and AUD patients. Our secondary objective was to explore which responses (cue-induced craving or anxiety) can best differentiate between AUD patients and the SD group. Method: Twenty-seven individuals (13 AUD patients and 14 SD) participated in this study after giving written informed consent. Their anxiety and alcohol craving levels were measured by different instruments at different stages of the procedure. The VR equipment consisted of Oculus Rift technology, and the software consisted of the ALCO-VR platform. Results: Our data indicate that the ALCO-VR software can elicit responses of anxiety and alcohol craving, especially in the group of AUD patients. The cue-induced anxiety response differentiated AUD patients and the SD group better than the cue-induced craving response. Conclusions: The general interest in applying new technologies to the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders has led to the development of immersive real-life simulations based on the advantages of VR technology. Our study concluded that the ALCO-VR software can elicit anxiety and craving responses and that cue-induced anxiety responses can distinguish between AUD and SD groups better than cue-induced craving. The data on craving and anxiety were assessed consistently by different instruments. In addition, we consider that ALCO-VR is able to ecologically assess cue-induced anxiety and alcohol craving levels during exposure to VR alcohol-related environments.

scholarly journals Predictors of Changes in Alcohol Craving Levels during a Virtual Reality Cue Exposure Treatment among Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 3018
Author(s):  
Olga Hernández-Serrano ◽  
Alexandra Ghiţă ◽  
Natàlia Figueras-Puigderrajols ◽  
Jolanda Fernández-Ruiz ◽  
Miquel Monras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Cue Exposure ◽  
Treatment As Usual ◽  
Alcohol Craving ◽  
Predictive Variables ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Civil Status

Background/Objective: Determining the predictive variables associated with levels of alcohol craving can ease the identification of patients who can benefit from treatments. This study aimed to describe changes (improvement or no change/deterioration) in alcohol craving levels and explore the predictors of these changes from admission to discharge in outpatients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) undergoing treatment-as-usual (TAU), or treatment-as-usual supplemented with virtual reality cue-exposure therapy (TAU + VR-CET). Method: A prospective cohort study was conducted amongst 42 outpatients with AUD (n = 15 TAU + VR-CET and n = 27 TAU) from a clinical setting. Changes in the levels of alcohol craving between admission and discharge were assessed with the Multidimensional Alcohol Craving Scale. Sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, education, and socioeconomic and civil status), cognitive-affective behavioral patterns (AUD severity, abstinence duration, psychiatric comorbidity, state anxiety, attentional bias, and substance use), and type of treatment (TAU + VR-CET and only TAU) were also evaluated. Results: The TAU + VR-CET group showed greater changes of improvement in the levels of alcohol craving than the TAU group (χ2 = 10.996; p = 0.001). Intragroup changes in alcohol craving from pre to post-treatment were significant in the TAU + VR-CET group (χ2 = 13.818; p = 0.003) but not within the TAU group (χ2 = 2.349; p = 0.503). The odds of an improvement in any of the craving levels between pre- and post-test was 18.18 (1/0.055) times higher in the TAU + VR-CET group with respect to the TAU group. The use of illicit drugs in the month prior to the test increased the odds of having a positive change by 18.18 (1/0.055) with respect to not having consumed. Conclusions: Including VR-CET in TAU programs may provide benefits in the treatment of AUDs mainly among patients with intense alcohol craving and individuals having used illicit substances prior to treatment.

scholarly journals Attentional Bias, Alcohol Craving, and Anxiety Implications of the Virtual Reality Cue-Exposure Therapy in Severe Alcohol Use Disorder: A Case Report

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Ghiţă ◽  
Olga Hernández-Serrano ◽  
Jolanda Fernández-Ruiz ◽  
Manuel Moreno ◽  
Miquel Monras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Case Report ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Exposure Therapy ◽  
Cue Exposure ◽  
Alcohol Craving ◽  
Booster Sessions ◽  
Therapy Sessions

Aims: Attentional bias (AB), alcohol craving, and anxiety have important implications in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The current study aims to test the effectiveness of a Virtual Reality Cue-Exposure Therapy (VR-CET) to reduce levels of alcohol craving and anxiety and prompt changes in AB toward alcohol content.Method: A 49-year-old male participated in this study, diagnosed with severe AUD, who also used tobacco and illicit substances on an occasional basis and who made several failed attempts to cease substance misuse. The protocol consisted of six VR-CET booster sessions and two assessment sessions (pre- and post-VR-CET) over the course of 5 weeks. The VR-CET program consisted of booster therapy sessions based on virtual reality (VR) exposure to preferred alcohol-related cues and contexts. The initial and final assessment sessions were focused on exploring AB, alcohol craving, and anxiety using paper-and-pencil instruments and the eye-tracking (ET) and VR technologies at different time points.Results: Pre and post assessment sessions indicated falls on the scores of all instruments assessing alcohol craving, anxiety, and AB.Conclusions: This case report, part of a larger project, demonstrates the effectiveness of the VR-CET booster sessions in AUD. In the post-treatment measurements, a variety of instruments showed a change in the AB pattern and an improvement in craving and anxiety responses. As a result of the systematic desensitization, virtual exposure gradually reduced the responses to significant alcohol-related cues and contexts. The implications for AB, anxiety and craving are discussed.

scholarly journals Why a Virtual Assistant for Moral Enhancement When We Could have a Socrates?

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Lara
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
Moral Enhancement ◽  
Moral Decisions ◽  
Educational Methodology ◽  
Better Than

AbstractCan Artificial Intelligence (AI) be more effective than human instruction for the moral enhancement of people? The author argues that it only would be if the use of this technology were aimed at increasing the individual's capacity to reflectively decide for themselves, rather than at directly influencing behaviour. To support this, it is shown how a disregard for personal autonomy, in particular, invalidates the main proposals for applying new technologies, both biomedical and AI-based, to moral enhancement. As an alternative to these proposals, this article proposes a virtual assistant that, through dialogue, neutrality and virtual reality technologies, can teach users to make better moral decisions on their own. The author concludes that, as long as certain precautions are taken in its design, such an assistant could do this better than a human instructor adopting the same educational methodology.

Effects of multiple detoxifications on withdrawal symptoms, psychiatric distress and alcohol-craving in patients with an alcohol use disorder

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Martha Ooms ◽  
Hendrik G. Roozen ◽  
Juul H. Willering ◽  
Wobbe P. Zijlstra ◽  
Ranne de Waart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Withdrawal Symptoms ◽  
Alcohol Craving ◽  
Psychiatric Distress

scholarly journals The training game SALIENCE for the therapy of alcohol use disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 499-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Vollstädt-Klein ◽  
Philip Mildner ◽  
Jan Malte Bumb ◽  
Damian Karl ◽  
Christoph Ueberle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Standard Treatment ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Group 1

The feasibility study was aimed to develop a web-based gaming tool for the therapy of alcohol use disorder to offer patients a cue-exposure-based extinction and decision training, enhanced with virtual reality. To increase the training effect, patients playfully experience situations that resemble critical real-life situations. For implementing the game, a combination of HTML5 and JavaScript was used. The application comes with an administrator interface, to allow editing the game content. Initially, we included 21 patients (Group 1), 18 suffering from alcohol use disorder and 3 using cannabis (18/3 male/female, mean age 39 ± 13 years). Considering the iterative process of a feasibility study, we developed the game design as suggested by participants of Group 1 and additionally included 11 novel participants (Group 2) (11 suffering from an alcohol use disorder, 7/4 male/female, mean age 46 ± 14 years). Basically, the game was very well received. Usability ratings were generally high, even in patients with little computer experience. Both groups rated the application as realistic, and would generally be willing to play it on a daily basis. Given that SALIENCE is inexpensive, easily available, and engaging, it might be a reasonable add-on intervention to the standard treatment of alcohol use disorder.

scholarly journals Alcohol craving and the dimensionality of alcohol disorders

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Keyes ◽  
R. F. Krueger ◽  
B. F. Grant ◽  
D. S. Hasin
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Dependence ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Alcohol Problems ◽  
Continuous Measure ◽  
Alcohol Disorders ◽  
Alcohol Craving ◽  
Epidemiologic Survey ◽  
Dsm Iv

BackgroundICD-10 includes a craving criterion for alcohol dependence while DSM-IV does not. Little is known about whether craving fits with or improves the DSM-IV criteria set for alcohol-use disorders.MethodData were derived from current drinkers (n=18 352) in the 1991–1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES), a nationally representative survey of US adults >17 years of age. The Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule was used to assess the eleven DSM-IV dependence and abuse criteria, and alcohol craving. Exploratory factor, item response theory, and regression analyses were used to evaluate the psychometric properties and concurrent validity of DSM-based alcohol disorder criteria with the addition of alcohol craving.ResultsThe past 12-month prevalence of craving was 1.3%. Craving formed part of a unidimensional latent variable that included existing DSM-IV criteria. Craving demonstrated high severity on the alcohol-use disorder continuum, resulting in an improved dimensional model with greater discriminatory ability compared with current DSM-IV criteria. Correlates of the diagnosis did not change with the addition of craving, and past 12-month craving was associated with prior alcohol dependence, depression, and earlier age of alcohol disorder onset among those with current DSM-IV alcohol dependence.ConclusionsThe addition of craving to the existing DSM-IV criteria yields a continuous measure that better differentiates individuals with and without alcohol problems along the alcohol-use disorder continuum. Few individuals are newly diagnosed with alcohol dependence given the addition of craving, indicating construct validity but redundancy with existing criteria.

scholarly journals Virtual Reality Cue Refusal Video Game for Alcohol and Cigarette Recovery Support: Summative Study (Preprint)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Metcalf ◽  
Karen Rossie ◽  
Katie Stokes ◽  
Christina Tallman ◽  
Bradley Tanner
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Addiction Treatment ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Sampling Technique

BACKGROUND New technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and video games hold promise to support and enhance individuals in addiction treatment and recovery. Quitting or decreasing cigarette or alcohol use can lead to significant health improvements for individuals, decreasing heart disease risk and cancer risks (for both nicotine and alcohol use), among others. However, remaining in recovery from use is a significant challenge for most individuals. OBJECTIVE We developed and assessed the Take Control game, a partially immersive Kinect for Windows platform game that allows users to counter substance cues through active movements (hitting, kicking, etc). METHODS Formative analysis during phase I and phase II guided development. We conducted a small wait-list control trial using a quasi-random sampling technique (systematic) with 61 participants in recovery from addiction to alcohol or tobacco. Participants used the game 3 times and reported on substance use, cravings, satisfaction with the game experience, self-efficacy related to recovery, and side effects from exposure to a virtual reality intervention and substance cues. RESULTS Participants found the game engaging and fun and felt playing the game would support recovery efforts. On average, reported substance use decreased for participants during the intervention period. Participants in recovery for alcohol use saw more benefit than those in recovery for tobacco use, with a statistically significant increase in self-efficacy, attitude, and behavior during the intervention. Side effects from the use of a virtual reality intervention were minor and decreased over time; cravings and side effects also decreased during the study. CONCLUSIONS The preliminary results suggest the intervention holds promise as an adjunct to standard treatment for those in recovery, particularly from alcohol use.

History of suicidality and alcohol craving trajectories during inpatient treatment for alcohol use disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 209 ◽  
pp. 107918
Author(s):  
Roshni Janakiraman ◽  
Joshua L. Gowin ◽  
Matthew E. Sloan ◽  
Melanie L. Schwandt ◽  
Nancy Diazgranados ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Inpatient Treatment ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Alcohol Craving ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals Nutritional Ketosis as a Potential Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikrant R. Mahajan ◽  
Sophie K. Elvig ◽  
Leandro F. Vendruscolo ◽  
George F. Koob ◽  
Valerie L. Darcey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Ketone Bodies ◽  
Alcohol Intoxication ◽  
Nutritional Intervention ◽  
Withdrawal Symptoms ◽  
Energy Deficit ◽  
Acetate Metabolism ◽  
Brain Disorder ◽  
Alcohol Craving

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic, relapsing brain disorder, characterized by compulsive alcohol seeking and disrupted brain function. In individuals with AUD, abstinence from alcohol often precipitates withdrawal symptoms than can be life threatening. Here, we review evidence for nutritional ketosis as a potential means to reduce withdrawal and alcohol craving. We also review the underlying mechanisms of action of ketosis. Several findings suggest that during alcohol intoxication there is a shift from glucose to acetate metabolism that is enhanced in individuals with AUD. During withdrawal, there is a decline in acetate levels that can result in an energy deficit and could contribute to neurotoxicity. A ketogenic diet or ingestion of a ketone ester elevates ketone bodies (acetoacetate, β-hydroxybutyrate and acetone) in plasma and brain, resulting in nutritional ketosis. These effects have been shown to reduce alcohol withdrawal symptoms, alcohol craving, and alcohol consumption in both preclinical and clinical studies. Thus, nutritional ketosis may represent a unique treatment option for AUD: namely, a nutritional intervention that could be used alone or to augment the effects of medications.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document