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Researchers have claimed that craving and Attentional Bias (AB) towards alcohol-related cues can be explained by a common incentive-salience mechanism. However, the exact relationship between AB and craving is a matter of debate. The aim of this study was to show that metacognitions moderate the effect of AB on craving. A sample of 38 alcohol abusers undergoing post-withdrawal treating in a hospital setting completed the visual Dot Probe Detection Task (DPDT), while both pre- and post-task measures of craving were recorded. Our results confirmed significant effects of both exposure to pictures of alcohol, and metacognitions, on craving; in particular, the interaction Metacognition * DPDT was significant. Although we initially confirmed a significant main effect of AB on craving, it became non-significant when adjusted for inter-subject variance, and metacognitions. The effect of the interaction AB * Metacognition on craving was not significant. Our findings support the hypothesis that craving and AB share variance, but the relationship appears to be spurious, and caused by confounding factors. We discuss these results with reference to the metacognitive model of addiction., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score is a convenient and promising tool for estimating alcoholic patients' global cognitive functioning, a major challenge for all specialized alcohol treatment centers. However, whether or not the score should be corrected for education level and whether the proposed cutoff is relevant in patients with alcohol use disorders (AUD) should be determined., Methods: We compared the MoCA scores in patients hospitalized for AUD with and without cognitive impairment assessed by a battery of neuropsychological (NP) tests. Sensitivity, specificity, and cutoff of the MoCA score were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis., Results: Thirty-one patients with and 25 without cognitive impairment were included in the study. There were 40 men and 16 women, with a mean age of 49.5 years. The mean uncorrected MoCA score was 23.1 ± 3.3 in those with and 27.0 ± 1.9 in those without cognitive impairment. NP tests were significantly correlated with the MoCA score. Uncorrected MoCA scores identified more than 80% of the patients with a cutoff score equal to 26, to obtain similar accuracy with the corrected score required using a cutoff score equal to 27., Conclusions: Our results confirm that the MoCA test is a convenient and reliable screening tool to measure cognition defects in alcoholic patients. As using the 1-point education adjustment increases the cutoff score by 1 point, it is suggested to use the noncorrected score and the usual cutoff, that is, 26. Being easy to administer and only moderately time-consuming, the MoCA score should be used extensively in addiction treatment centers., (Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.)

Introduction: According to the self‐medication hypothesis, worriers use substances to cope with their symptoms; however, some published results have challenged this hypothesis. The aim of this study is to show if worry increases the risk of SUD when it is negatively appraised by negative metacognitive beliefs. Method: We recruited three samples: 68 patients with a severe AUD, 27 patients dependent on eating and 42 control participants. We used the Yale Food Addiction Scale‐2, the Metacognitions Questionnaire‐65, the UPPS‐P Impulsive Behaviour Scale and the Anxiety Thoughts Inventory. Results: We confirmed a direct effect of worries and metaworry on alcohol (AUD) and eating addiction (EA), but our multivariate analyses revealed that metacognitive beliefs and metaworry are the most robust predictors of alcohol and eating addiction. Discussion: We reported substance‐related differences in the relationship between worry and addiction. AUD is related to the metacognitive activity set in motion by worries while EA is associated with a maladaptive form of worry (meta‐worry) where worries are negatively interpreted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]