Cue exposure in a virtual environment increase alcohol craving in non-dependent users

The development of new technologies and more specifically the opportunity to immerse participants in virtual controlled environments brings new ecological framework for researchers to study complex behaviours. Our objective is to determine whether the immersion in alcohol-related virtual environment could increase craving. It was hypothesized that subjective craving levels would be higher in heavy drinkers than light drinkers (Field & Cox, 2008). Based on the score of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT, Saunders et al., 1993), 22 light drinkers and 18 heavy drinkers were recruited and immersed in a virtual bar including alcoholic beverages. In order not to reveal the real purpose of our study, participants were informed that they were going to evaluate the aesthetic qualities and realism of the virtual environment after immersion. Once the immersion is over, participants completed four Visual Analogue Craving Scales and the ITC-SOPI questionnaire (Lessiter, Freeman, Keogh, & Davidoff, 2001) evaluating four aspects of the immersion: the sense of being there, the psychological engagement, its realism and the adverse physiological reactions due to immersion. T-test revealed that heavy drinkers have higher craving scores than light drinkers. Furthermore, stepwise regression reveals that craving was positively explained by the self-reported realism of the environment and the AUDIT score. So, immersion in a hyper stimulant environment may increase the craving of non-dependent consumers while the ecological validity of the task seems to be critical to explain self-report craving. Future studies are needed to explain craving. In particular, the role of attentional biases.