In reviewing the present findings, it should also be recognized that craving experienced as a consequence of cue exposure may differ from self-reported “strong desire or urge” to use alcohol, which is the phenotype used in this study (Carter & Tiffany, 1999; Kozlowski, Mann, Wilkinson, & Poulos, 1989; Marlatt & Gordon, 1985). Furthermore, craving is commonly reported during abstinence and can be an aspect of withdrawal, but whether anticipatory pleasure from alcohol use, cue-induced urges, desires to drink during withdrawal and self-reported craving are overlapping, or even related, constructs has not been well-explored (Moss, 2011). There is also evidence that craving for some drugs (e.g. cocaine) is a significant contributor to relapse (O’Brien, 2005) with one study reporting that alcohol craving was associated with time to relapse after residential treatment (Oslin, Cary, Slaymaker, Colleran, & Blow, 2009). However, this effect was not noted for alcohol in one large study (Leggio, Ray, Kenna, & Swift, 2009) and the effects were found to be even weaker when considering self-reported craving (Drummond, 2001; Drummond, Litten, Lowman, & Hunt, 2000; Lowman, Hunt, Litten, & Drummond, 2000).
