An investigation into the relationship between laboratory measured attentional bias and real life attentional bias for alcohol-related cues and its role in alcohol behaviour

There is a large evidence-base suggesting the role of attentional bias in addictive behaviours. However, there has been no evidence to date of any research in the field of alcohol addiction that investigates if traditionally used laboratory-based measures of attentional bias correspond to more naturalistic methods in real-world settings. A non-clinical sample of 43 students aged 18-30 were recruited from the University of Liverpool. Participants completed two measures of attentional bias; a fixed eye tracker measure utilising the visual probe task in a standard laboratory set-up, and a head mounted eye tracker within a more naturalistic setting. Attentional bias was measured by participants fixation duration to alcohol compared with non-alcohol/neutral stimuli. Participant’s drinking habits were also measured using the Time Line Follow Back and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. A measure of craving and measures of mood were also administered. Correlation analyses were conducted on 34 complete data sets. No significant correlations were found between the two measures of attentional bias. Some significant correlations were found, however, between drinking-related variables, craving and the fixed eye tracker attentional bias measure supporting previous findings within the literature. Additional analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between mood, attentional bias measures and drinking-related variables. The results of this study are discussed in detail in relation to the theoretical and clinical implications and future research is suggested. Keywords: attentional bias, alcohol, naturalistic setting, fixed eye tracker, head mounted eye tracker, visual probe task, craving