ABSTRACT

Increasing evidence implicates sleep/circadian factors in alcohol use; however, the role of such factors in alcohol craving has received scant attention. Prior research suggests a 24-hour rhythm in related processes (e.g., reward motivation), but more research directly investigating a rhythm in craving is needed. Moreover, prior evidence is ambiguous whether such a rhythm in alcohol craving may vary by sleep/circadian timing. To examine these possibilities, 36 late adolescents (18–22 years of age; 61% female) with regular alcohol use but without a current alcohol use disorder were recruited to complete smartphone reports of alcohol craving intensity six times a day for two weeks. During these two weeks, participants wore wrist actigraphs and completed two in-lab assessments (on Thursday and Sunday) of dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). Average actigraphically derived midpoint of sleep on weekends and average DLMO were used as indicators of sleep and circadian timing, respectively. Multilevel cosinor analysis revealed a 24-hour rhythm in alcohol craving. Findings across the sleep and circadian timing variables converged to suggest that sleep/circadian timing moderated the 24-hour rhythm in alcohol craving. Specifically, people with later sleep/circadian timing had later timing of peak alcohol craving. These findings add to the growing evidence of potential circadian influences on reward-related phenomena and suggest that greater consideration of sleep and circadian influences on alcohol craving may be useful for understanding alcohol use patterns and advancing related interventions.

摘要

越来越多的证据表明酒精使用中的睡眠/昼夜节律因素；然而，这些因素在酒精渴望中的作用却很少受到关注。先前的研究表明相关过程中的 24 小时节奏（例如，奖励动机），但需要更多直接调查渴望节奏的研究。此外，先前的证据是模棱两可的，这种酒精渴望的节奏是否会因睡眠/昼夜节律时间而异。为了检验这些可能性，我们招募了 36 名经常饮酒但目前没有酒精使用障碍的晚期青少年（18-22 岁；61% 的女性），在智能手机上完成每天六次连续两周的酒精渴望强度报告。在这两周内，参与者佩戴腕部活动记录仪并完成了两项实验室内评估（周四和周日）暗光褪黑激素发作 (DLMO)。周末的平均活动性睡眠中点和平均 DLMO 分别用作睡眠和昼夜节律时间的指标。多级余弦分析揭示了酒精渴望的 24 小时节奏。睡眠和昼夜节律时间变量的结果一致表明，睡眠/昼夜节律时间调节了酒精渴望的 24 小时节律。具体来说，睡眠/昼夜节律时间较晚的人对酒精的渴望高峰时间较晚。这些发现增加了越来越多的证据表明昼夜节律对奖励相关现象的潜在影响，并表明更多地考虑睡眠和昼夜节律对酒精渴望的影响可能有助于了解酒精使用模式和推进相关干预措施。