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ABSTRACTAims  Dual‐process models imply that alcohol use is related to implicit as well as explicit cognitive processes. Few studies have tested whether both types of processes are related to ad libitum drinking. In a series of three studies, we tested whether both implicit and explicit alcohol‐related cognitions predicted the amount of alcohol consumed in an ad libitum (semi)naturalistic drinking situation.Design  Two experimental studies used trained confederates (same‐sex peers) who consumed either alcoholic or non‐alcoholic beverages, while observing participants' drinking behaviour in a 30‐minute session. The third study involved observations of participants' alcohol use during a 45‐minute session in which participants spent time with five to seven friends.Setting  A (semi)naturalistic drinking setting, a laboratory bar.Participants  Participants were undergraduates recruited at Radboud University (study 1: n = 115; study 2: n = 121; study 3: n = 200).Measurements  We used coding of drinking behaviour from observations, questionnaire data on positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol use patterns and implicit association tests to assess alcohol associations.Findings  Implicit associations were not related to observed alcohol use, whereas explicit positive expectancies were related positively to observed alcohol use in study 1 and study 2.Conclusions  Among undergraduate students in (semi)naturalistic drinking settings with peers, implicit alcohol‐related cognitions do not predict the amount of alcohol consumed.

This study investigated the effectiveness of a targeted intervention program aimed at at-risk adolescents in a randomized clinical trial design (N=107). This program combined intervention methods which have been proven effective in reducing drinking in young adults, such as an expectancy challenge, cognitive behavioral skill training and brief motivational feedback. Additionally, this intervention contained the new element of discussing biological, cognitive and social risk factors for developing alcohol problems. We investigated whether this seven session program was successful in changing cognitive determinants of drinking behavior and consequently in moderating alcohol use and the development of alcohol-related problems in at-risk adolescents. The intervention was effective in changing several of the targeted cognitive determinants. However, despite the changes in these cognitive determinants of drinking, the experimental group did not show a significant difference in decrease of drinking at posttest compared with the control group. The results did not yield support for any differential long term effects of the intervention. We concluded that although the present intervention successfully changed important cognitive determinants of drinking more is needed to change subsequent drinking behavior in at-risk adolescents.

<i>Background:</i> Several experimental laboratory studies have shown that subjective craving for alcohol increases as a result of low-to-moderate levels of alcohol consumption. Less is known about alcohol prime effects on relatively automatic appetitive motivational processes such as attentional bias (AB). Also, it is not known whether the effects from laboratory studies can be generalized to real-life drinking environments, and whether effects change after higher alcohol doses than those that have been administered in lab studies. <i>Method:</i> In two pubs, we investigated alcohol prime dose effects in self-reported craving and AB, measured by a modified Flicker Paradigm. We included an opportunistic sample of 72 social drinkers who had been drinking various amounts of alcohol. <i>Results:</i> Self-reported craving was positively predicted by dose of alcohol consumed, from one up to 16 drinks. In contrast, AB was negatively predicted by dose consumed in participants who had been binge drinking. <i>Conclusion:</i> This field study validates earlier experimental research on alcohol prime effects in a real drinking situation. Further, it demonstrates prime effects up to much higher alcohol doses than in previous lab studies.