| Heavy drinking among college students is a significant public health concern associated with negative consequences. Cue exposure and mindfulness interventions have been developed to reduce addictive behavior. There is evidence for the effectiveness of cue exposure with outcomes such as fewer heavy drinking days, decreased drinking frequency, and decreased amount per occasion being reported (Hodgson & Rankin, 1976; Sitharthan, Sitharthan, Hough, & Kavanagh, 1997; Monti et al., 1993; Rohsenow et al., 2001).;Kabat-Zinn (1979) developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for medical patients to approach illnesses and stress mindfully to lead meaningful lives and reduce their distress. Marlatt has shown significant reductions in addiction using mindfulness meditation (Marlatt et al., 2004; Bowen et al., 2006). Though cue exposure and mindfulness meditation have not yet been used concurrently in treating substance abuse, their combination may be effective in treatment. Mindfulness meditation may potentiate the effects of cue exposure by making cues typically resulting in addictive behavior more salient. This study explored the effectiveness of a 15-minute mindfulness meditation induction on alcohol cue reactivity and subjective mindfulness states.;Sixty-four students identified as either High Risk or Low Risk drinkers received either mindfulness meditation inductions or audiobook inductions. In addition, participants were given either given no instructions, or were instructed to engage in meditation-like focused breathing during waiting periods prior to and following inductions. Measures included salivation to alcohol cues, ratings of urge to drink alcohol, enjoyment of the sight and smell of a beverage, confidence to refuse the drink, the Toronto Mindfulness Scale, and the Five Facet Mindfulness Scale.;Hypotheses were that (1) High Risk drinkers would be more reactive to alcohol cues than Low Risk drinkers; (2) the Mindfulness Meditation group would be more reactive to alcohol cues than the Audiobook group; (3) the Mindfulness Meditation group would report greater mindfulness states than the Audiobook group, (4) different levels of dispositional mindfulness and alcohol cue reactivity would be associated. All hypotheses were unsupported. However, Describing and Acting with Awareness, of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, predicted urge to drink alcohol and confidence to refuse a drink. Results were discussed in light of the importance of increased awareness, through a full mindfulness meditation program, of drinking cues during cue exposure treatment. |
