Abstract
The primary goal of this study was to establish a paradigm for credibly administering placebo alcohol to underage drinkers. We also sought to create a new, valid procedure for establishing placebo alcohol believability. Participants were 138 American college students (66.7% female) predominantly (90.0%) under the legal drinking age. Groups of 2-3 participants and one same-sex confederate consumed mixed drinks, purportedly containing alcohol, ad-lib in a naturalistic bar-laboratory for 20 min. All beverages, however, were non-alcoholic but we used visual, olfactory, and taste cues to maximize placebo credibility. Also, the confederate made two scripted statements designed to increase the perception of drinking real alcohol. After the drinking portion, participants responded to survey items related to alcohol consumption and intoxication. Next, they were individually debriefed, with open-ended responses used to make a determination of whether the participant was deceived with respect to placebo alcohol. All participants estimated consuming some amount of alcohol. However, using a more conservative criteria for estimating alcohol believability based on the debrief, 89.1% of participants were classified as deceived. Deceived partic...Continue Reading
References
Apr 1, 1979·Journal of Abnormal Psychology·D B Abrams, G T Wilson
Oct 1, 1975·Journal of Abnormal Psychology·A R LangG A Marlatt
Nov 1, 1992·Journal of Studies on Alcohol·M A SayetteG T Wilson
Nov 1, 1990·Journal of Studies on Alcohol·C S MartinR D Young
Apr 1, 1985·Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology·R L CollinsG A Marlatt
Jan 1, 1980·Addictive Behaviors·T M KeaneJ Kreutzer
Jul 1, 1995·Journal of Studies on Alcohol·S T Chermack, S P Taylor
May 1, 1994·Addictive Behaviors·M A SayetteG D Rosenblum
Nov 1, 1993·Journal of Studies on Alcohol·C S Martin, M A Sayette
May 1, 1993·Addictive Behaviors·K J Corcoran, D J Segrist
Mar 1, 1996·Archives of General Psychiatry·M G KushnerD Wangensteen
Mar 21, 1998·Journal of Studies on Alcohol·M T FillmoreM Vogel-Sprott
Sep 1, 2005·Addiction·Sander M BotRonald A Knibbe
Jan 31, 2006·Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research·Maria TestaLenwood W Hayman
Feb 28, 2006·Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research·Elizabeth RalevskiIsmene Petrakis
May 23, 2007·Journal of Abnormal Psychology·Kenneth J SherMark D Wood
Jul 31, 2007·Addictive Behaviors·Mark D WoodNancy H Brand
Apr 24, 2008·Archives of Sexual Behavior·William H GeorgeKelly F Kajumulo
Apr 23, 2010·Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs·Rebecca GilbertsonSara Jo Nixon
Jun 23, 2010·Psychology of Addictive Behaviors : Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors·Robert C SchlauchAlan R Lang
Mar 21, 2012·Psychology of Addictive Behaviors : Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors·Lori A J Scott-SheldonMichael P Carey
Apr 14, 2012·Addictive Behaviors·Pamela M MorrisonRichard L Ogle
Nov 1, 2013·Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs·Fanny KreuschEtienne Quertemont
Citations
Jan 27, 2018·Scientific Reports·Zhengchun WangYifeng Zhou
Oct 8, 2016·The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse·Michael H Bernstein, Mark D Wood
Mar 8, 2020·Psychopharmacology·Jay A OlsonSamuel P L Veissière