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Background:  Motivational conflict is central to alcohol dependence, with patients reporting motivation to limit their drinking at the same time as urges to drink alcohol. In addition, dual process models of addiction emphasise the power of automatic cognitive processes, particularly automatic approach responses elicited by alcohol‐related cues, as determinants of drinking behavior. We aimed to examine the strength of automatic and self‐reported alcohol approach and avoidance tendencies among alcohol‐dependent inpatients relative to matched controls.

Methods:enbsp; A total of 63 alcohol‐dependent patients undergoing detoxification and 64 light‐drinking controls completed a stimulus‐response compatibility (SRC) task, which assesses the speed of categorization of alcohol‐related pictures by making symbolic approach and avoidance movements. We also included modified versions of the …