# Validating Reward and Relief Drinking Phenotypes: A Multimethod Assessment

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO · 2021 · $38,120

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Etiology, maintenance, and recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) are each highly heterogeneous processes,
and variability in the clinical course of AUD poses challenges for the development of effective treatments.
Recently proposed models of AUD heterogeneity are informed by neurobiological mechanisms underlying the
development and maintenance of alcohol use. For example, the Alcohol and Addictions Research Domain
Criteria (AARDoC) and the Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment (ANA) have been used to explain
neurobiological, behavioral, and genetic heterogeneity in AUD. Another phenotype for classifying variability
within AUD is reward and relief drinking, or the extent to which individuals seek alcohol to enhance positive
experiences and social interaction (reward drinking) versus the extent to which individuals seek alcohol to relieve
negative emotional and somatic states (relief drinking). Processes underlying reward/relief drinking correspond
to the cycle of addiction and this phenotype is complementary to AARDoC/ANA domains. Previous findings
indicate the utility of reward/relief drinking phenotypes in matching patients to AUD pharmacotherapies, with high
reward drinkers responding better to naltrexone versus placebo. Despite promising findings for precision
medicine, limitations of current measures of reward/relief drinking may stymie efforts to translate findings to
clinical practice. Different measures of reward/relief drinking have been used across studies, the construct
validity of these measures has not been thoroughly assessed, and scoring guidelines to identify reward/relief
drinkers do not exist. To address these methodological issues and gaps in the literature, the primary goal of the
proposed project is to validate a brief measure of reward/relief drinking that can be easily administered and
scored in clinical practice. Specifically, we aim to refine and validate a brief version of the Inventory of Drinking
Situations (IDS), which has been utilized to identify reward/relief subgroups in two prior studies of the reward
drinker-naltrexone response hypothesis. First (Aim 1), we will conduct secondary data analysis of three large
studies of individuals in AUD treatment (N=1,152), with varying levels of AUD severity, to identify a brief version
of the IDS and a scoring algorithm for this measure. Two of these studies were clinical trials of AUD
pharmacotherapies, and we will assess the clinical utility of this brief measure by examining response to
naltrexone. Second (Aim 2), we plan to collect data from individuals with hazardous and harmful alcohol use
(N=65) to examine relationships among the brief IDS and a range of related constructs assessed with self-report
assessments and interviews, reactivity to alcohol and negative images, and reward/relief drinking processes in
near real time using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Thus, we plan to use advanced analytic methods
and a multimethod approach to id...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10230884
- **Project number:** 1F31AA029266-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
- **Principal Investigator:** Victoria Votaw
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $38,120
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-05 → 2023-03-04

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10230884

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10230884, Validating Reward and Relief Drinking Phenotypes: A Multimethod Assessment (1F31AA029266-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10230884. Licensed CC0.

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