The proposed studies will examine the role of intentional restraint as a moderator of drinking behavior. Based on work on restrained eating, it is predicted that social drinkers who express strong intentions to restrain their drinking will respond to the belief that they have violated their restraint by """"""""binding"""""""" on alcohol. It is argued that belief in alcohol as a specific disinhibitor is unnecessary for this effect to occur. It is further argued that """"""""restrained"""""""" drinkers typically employ less effective strategies for voluntarily delaying gratification than others, and that ineffective attentional strategies increase the frustrativeness of a period of nondrinking, thus leading to lapses of restraint. Two laboratory experiments are proposed to test these predictions among light/moderate and heavy drinkers. Possible relationships between drinking restraint and other individual-difference measures (including eating restraint generalized control orientation, potential for drinking problems, expectancies of the effects of alcohol, and parental alcoholism) will be explored through a survey study. The purpose of this research is to explore styles of alcohol consumption in social drinkers that may be precursers to later problem drinkers, with the goal of providing a basis for identifying and providing early treatment intervention to individuals who experience difficulty in controlling their drinking, at a point before a complete loss of control or physical addiction (e.g. tolerance and withdrawal symptoms) has developed. A style of drinking that is characterized by extreme restraint punctuated by binges may also be associated with problems that are worthy of attention in themselves (e.g. driving-and health-related effects), again suggesting the need for early treatment intervention.
| Bensley, L S (1991) Construct validity evidence for the interpretation of drinking restraint as a response conflict. Addict Behav 16:139-50 |
| Bensley, L S; Kuna, P H; Steele, C M (1990) The role of drinking restraint success in subsequent alcohol consumption. Addict Behav 15:491-6 |
