Trial reportAlcoholism, clinical and experimental research2018
Effects of Initiating Abstinence from Alcohol on Daily Craving and Negative Affect: Results from a Pharmacotherapy Clinical Trial.
Trial report in Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of a 7-Day Pornography Abstinence Period on Withdrawal-Related Symptoms in Regular Pornography Users: A Randomized Controlled Study.Archives of sexual behavior · 2023Trial
- Effects of Prazosin on Provoked Alcohol Craving and Autonomic and Neuroendocrine Response to Stress in Alcohol Use Disorder.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2020Trial
- Drink goal difficulty effect on outcomes in moderation-based alcohol treatment for sexual minority men.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2020Trial
- Alcohol Abstainer Status and Prazosin Treatment in Association with Changes in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Veterans with Comorbid Alcohol Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2019Trial
- Effectiveness of Naltrexone and Baclofen Combination in Reducing Craving among Patients with Alcohol Dependence: An Open-label Trial.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Early alcohol abstinence symptoms and the role of cumulative adversity.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Article
- Species differences in comorbid alcohol use disorder and major depressive disorder: A narrative review.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Review
- Reductions in WHO risk drinking levels correlate with alcohol craving among individuals with alcohol use disorder.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2024Article
- Changes in alcohol consumption reported on routine healthcare screenings are associated with changes in depression symptoms.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2023Article
- Data driven mixed effects modeling of the dual process framework of addiction among individuals with alcohol use disorder.PloS one · 2023Article
- Examining Associations Between Negative Affect and Substance Use in Treatment-Seeking Samples: A Review of Studies Using Intensive Longitudinal Methods.Current addiction reports · 2022Article
- Learning from addiction: Craving of prescription opioids in chronic pain sufferers.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Predictors of Short-Term Alcohol Drinking in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorders during the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prospective Study in Three Addiction Outpatient Centers in France.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Factors of Negative Affect in Elderly Patients With Substance Use Disorders During COVID-19 Pandemic.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Context and craving among individuals with alcohol use disorder attempting to moderate their drinking.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2020Article
- Changes in Hypothesized Mechanisms of Change Before and After Initiating Abstinence in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Women With Alcohol Use Disorder.Behavior therapy · 2019Article
- Course of remission from and relapse to heavy drinking following outpatient treatment of alcohol use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCraving and negative affect are distressing and commonly experienced during alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment. Patients may assume that initiating abstinence will intensify their cravings and negative affect despite limited empirical data to support this assumption. This study extends and replicates, under improved methodological conditions, previous work that found reductions in daily craving associated with initiating abstinence.
methodsSeventy-eight adults (80.8% male, 57.1% Caucasian) in a clinical trial testing prazosin for AUD provided daily reports of drinking, craving, and negative affect for up to 12 weeks (mean = 64.77 daily reports). Participants were classified into 3 subgroups based on whether and when they initiated 14 days of continuous abstinence, including (i) "abstinence initiators" who quit drinking during treatment (n = 17), (ii) "already abstainers" who were abstinent at the start of treatment (n = 20), and (iii) "continued drinkers" who never initiated abstinence (n = 41). The timing and degree of change in craving and negative affect were compared across these groups using multivariate growth curve modeling.
resultsAll participant subgroups reported gradual reductions in craving over the course of treatment, with "abstinence initiators" reporting additional sudden reductions in craving upon initiating abstinence from alcohol. "Continued drinkers" reported higher levels of craving than "already abstainers" throughout the full course of treatment. Negative affect followed a different pattern of change, with "abstinence initiators" experiencing gradual reductions in negative affect after initiating abstinence but no changes prior to or immediately upon initiating abstinence, and with "already abstainers" and "continued drinkers" experiencing no changes in negative affect over time.
conclusionsInitiating abstinence is associated with immediate reductions in craving, followed by gradual reductions in both craving and negative affect. Results provide insight into the timing and magnitude of changes in theoretically and clinically important variables and may help patients anticipate when to expect improvement in craving and negative effect.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.