The cue‐responsivity phenomenon in dependent drinkers: ‘personality’ vulnerability and anxiety as intervening variables

The cue‐responsivity phenomenon to alcohol‐associated stimuli in dependent drinkers was examined. In accordance with previous research, significant differences on both physiological and subjective cue‐responsivity variables, between dependent and non‐dependent drinkers were found. The unique contribution of this paper is two‐fold. Firstly, evidence is presented which suggests that the Eysenckian personality traits of introversion and neuroticism are more predictive of cue‐responsivity variance in the dependent drinkers than either severity of dependence or number of years' drinking. Secondly, within this dependent group, the relationship between cue‐responsivity and ‘craving’ was seen to be less straightforward than traditionally thought. Specifically, it suggested that it was the extent to which autonomic cue‐responsivity elicited increases in self‐reported anxiety, which predicted most of the variance on the ‘craving’ variable. Taken together, these results raise the interesting possibility that a personality disposition akin to trait anxiety, and the degree to which cue exposure elicits state anxiety, mediated the relationship between cue‐responsivity and ‘craving’ in dependent drinkers.