Attentional retraining and cognitive biases in a regular cannabis smoking student population

Abstract. Aim Repeated drug use can lead to attentional bias and approach tendencies, which are thought to play an important role in problematic substance use and dependence. The aims of the current study were to 1) test an attentional retraining procedure in a sample of moderate and heavy cannabis using students and 2) compare baseline attentional and approach bias between the two groups with different implicit measures. Design and participants Attentional bias scores toward cannabis-related or neutral stimuli were determined with modified versions of the Visual Probe Task and the cannabis Stroop task. Approach and avoidance action tendencies toward cannabis-related and neutral stimuli were assessed with the cannabis Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) and the Stimulus Response Compatibility task (SRC). Seventeen participants were assigned randomly to five sessions of an attentional retraining procedure or control training. Results Attentional retraining did not decrease the speeded detection of cannabis stimu...