Recent research suggests that naltrexone may be an effective intervention to reduce heavy drinking in young adults. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist medication that has also approved for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Researchers are finding that this medication may be effective for reducing the number of drinks consumed in a day, and reducing the number of drinking days with a blood alcohol concentration meeting the legal limit of intoxication among young adults. This study examines whether targeted (as-needed) naltrexone influences within-person relations among mood, urge, and alcohol use among 127 young adults ages 18-25 that reported at least 4 heavy drinking days in the past 4 weeks. The study was a double-blind placebo-controlled trial in which participants were assigned to receive either placebo or naltrexone (25mg daily + 25mg targeted). Participants were instructed to take the targeted dose as needed prior to drinking in addition to their daily dose. Participants completed a daily web-based diary for 8 weeks that assessed their current mood, as well as their desire to drink and number of drinks consumed the previous day. Negative affect was not significantly related to urge or drinking outcome, while positive affect and urge were significantly related to an increase in drinking. Compared to the participants taking naltrexone, those taking the targeted placebo dose were associated with greater odds of having blood alcohol concentration greater than the legal limit of intoxication. The effects of urge and positive affect on drinking outcome were significant in the placebo group but not the naltrexone.
Take away: The findings of this study indicate that taking targeted naltrexone buffers against the indirect effects of positive affect and urge on drinking to the point of intoxication. This provides evidence that naltrexone may be utilized to reduce heavy drinking in college-aged young adults. These results also suggest that heightened positive affect and urge are signals for alcohol use, which can be used to inform risk reduction strategies for this population.