The drink remains the same: implicit positive associations in high but not moderate or non-caffeine consumers

Research has shown conflicting evidence in the relationship of drug consumption and attentional bias. Separately, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) has been used to investigate the valence of implicit associations to relevant food and drugs with some contradictory findings, though no work has addressed this issue with respect to caffeine. In the present study we examined the relationship of attentional bias in high, moderate and non-caffeine consumers and also explored differences in implicit associations. Fifteen high, moderate and non-consumers of caffeine completed a picture dot-probe task, IAT and mood questionnaire following overnight caffeine abstinence. In the IAT, results demonstrated positive associations to caffeine related words for High but not Moderate or non-consumers. Lower ratings for calmness were evident in both groups of caffeine compared to non-consumers. Dot-probe findings revealed no clear differences between groups. In contrast to earlier work, the observed implicit positive associations to caffeine suggest that drug acceptability is key in such perceptions.