Psychological Stress, Social Interaction
Conditions
Keywords
stress induction, value-based decision-making
Brief summary
This preregistration documents an experiment examining the effects of acute stress and social context on alcohol-related decision-making. The study uses a 2x2 factorial design (stress vs. control × social vs. alone) with dyadic recruitment.
Detailed description
Behavioral data: Our first set of hypotheses tests whether the decision is influenced by stress and social context: H1a: Stress affects the decision between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, so that participants in the stress conditions choose alcoholic over non-alcoholic drinks more often compared to participants in the no stress conditions. H1b: Social context affects the decision between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, so that participants in the social conditions choose alcoholic over non-alcoholic drinks more often compared to participants in the alone conditions. H1c: We test two competing predictions: (I) The effect of stress on the decision between alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks is modulated by social context, so that the effect of stress is stronger for participants that are in the social condition. (II) The effect of stress on the decision between alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks is modulated by social context, so that the effect of stress is weaker for participants that are in the social condition Drift diffusion modeling: Our second set of hypotheses test how the decision might be influenced by stress and social context: H2a: Stress affects the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is more positive for participants in the stress conditions. H2b: Social context affects the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is more positive for participants in the social conditions. H2c: Stress and social context have an interactive effect on the bias (but not the drift rate or boundary) parameter of the drift diffusion model, so that the bias parameter is either more or less positive for stressed participants who are in the social condition (in line with H1c).
Interventions
OTHERStress
Participants randomly assigned to the stress condition will undergo the standard protocol of the Trier Social Stress Test. Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will undergo a validated, non-stressful control procedure mirroring the TSST.
OTHERSocial Context
Participants randomly assigned to the social condition will make decisions about consuming alcohol with a known peer. Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will make decisions about consuming alcohol alone.
Sponsors
University of Washington
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
21 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Drinking alcohol at least once a week * Consuming 4 (female) or 5 (male) drinks in one occasion at least once a month
Exclusion criteria
* Currently pregnant or trying to become pregnant * Past or current treatment for alcohol use * Past or current medical condition that contraindicates alcohol use * Past or current reaction to alcohol that contraindicates alcohol use * Past or current medication that contraindicates alcohol use
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Proportion of choices for alcoholic over non-alcoholic drinks. | 5 minutes | Each participant will complete a two alternative forced-choice task in which they make repeated decisions between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. |
Contacts
CONTACTJonas Dora
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORJonas Dora
University of Washington
Outcome results
None listed