Stimulus-driven and intentional inhibition: Perspectives on loss of control in substance use and misuse

A main characteristic associated with problematic substance use is impulsivity, or more specifically, a tendency to take impulsive action and show problems with inhibition. This thesis aimed at filling these research gaps: 1) poly-substance use is the rule rather than the exception, and substances may interact with each other in their relationship with response inhibition; 2) findings on this topic are largely inconsistent, which is closely related to the variance of between-study factors, including demographics and task parameters; 3) cued inhibition assessed by the stop-signal task and go/no-go task differs from the type of inhibition that is required to voluntarily terminate substance use (in a use-situation), referred to as intentional inhibition. For these aims, we first did a mega-analysis to assess the relationship between poly-substance use and response inhibition. Then we narrowed down to alcohol use. In three experiments, we examined long-term and acute alcohol use and their relationships with stimulus-driven and intentional inhibition. By the end, we steered toward a field study to reduce alcohol use in a naturalistic environment. In sum, we found that 1) long-term recreational substance use without SUD is generally not associated with response inhibition deficits, except for cigarette smoking without also using cannabis; 2) the EEG-derived readiness potential represents intention formation in general; 3) the priming effect of alcohol appears in the context of intentional rather than stimulus-driven inhibition; 4) implementation intentions may help to reduce alcohol use in a naturalistic environment.