Despite accumulating evidence indicating reciprocal interrelations between pain and alcohol consumption, no prior work has examined pain as a proximal antecedent of drinking. The goal of the current study was to test the effects of experimental pain induction on ad-lib alcohol consumption among moderate-to-heavy drinkers without chronic pain (N = 237; 42% female; 37% Black; M = 3.26daily drinks). Participants were randomized to either pain-induction (capsaicin + thermal heat paradigm) or no-pain-control conditions. Experimental pain induction lasted for 15 minutes, during which ad-lib alcohol consumption was assessed using an established taste test paradigm. As hypothesized, results indicated that participants randomized to the pain-induction condition poured and consumed more alcohol and reached a higher peak blood alcohol concentration than those randomized to the no-pain condition (ps < 0.05; ηp² range = 0.018-0.021). Exploratory analyses revealed the effects of pain on alcohol consumption to be most pronounced among participants who self-identified as male or Black (relative to female or White, respectively). These findings indicate that the experience of pain serves as a causal, situational motivator for alcohol consumption, and suggest that current drinkers may be susceptible to escalating their consumption of alcohol in the context of pain. Future research is needed to explicate observed differences in the effects of pain on drinking as a function of gender and race, and to extend this work to individuals with chronic pain and varying levels of alcohol use. Collectively, these findings may help inform the development of integrated treatments to address co-occurring pain and alcohol use. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03311594.