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Attentional bias for caffeine-related stimuli in high but not moderate or non-caffeine consumers

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Abstract

Rationale

Attentional bias for drug-related cues has been reported with a wide range of drugs, but to date the extent to which caffeine consumers show similar biases for caffeine-related stimuli has not been tested. The present study therefore examined this issue in terms of differences in attentional bias for caffeine-related words in High, Moderate and Non-caffeine consumers using a dot-probe word task following overnight caffeine abstinence.

Objectives

This study was conducted to test whether caffeine consumers show an attentional bias for caffeine-related words, and whether such biases relate to habitual levels of caffeine use.

Methods

Sixteen High, Moderate and Non-consumers of caffeine were asked to complete a modified dot-probe task in order to measure attentional bias for caffeine-related relative to neutral control word groups. The task was completed following overnight caffeine abstinence, and participants also completed mood and caffeine-craving measures.

Results

The High consumer group showed a significant attentional bias for the caffeine-related words, but no such bias was seen in Moderate or Non-consumer groups. As expected, craving for caffeine was strongest in the High consumers and weakest in the Non-consumers. Attentional bias in the High group correlated with self-reported caffeine consumption and with craving for caffeine, but neither effect was significant in the Moderate group.

Conclusions

These data confirm that High caffeine consumers show attentional bias for caffeine-related stimuli, consistent with current theories of drug addiction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9Q6, UK

    Martin R. Yeomans, Shabnam Javaherian, Heather M. Tovey & Lorenzo D. Stafford

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  1. Martin R. Yeomans
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  2. Shabnam Javaherian
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  3. Heather M. Tovey
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  4. Lorenzo D. Stafford
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Correspondence to Martin R. Yeomans.

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Yeomans, M.R., Javaherian, S., Tovey, H.M. et al. Attentional bias for caffeine-related stimuli in high but not moderate or non-caffeine consumers. Psychopharmacology 181, 477–485 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-005-0004-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-005-0004-9

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