The final version of the gamified and smartphone-based Alco-Attention program that uses the attentional control training paradigm. This program is based on evidence that individuals, who have had a long and intensive alcohol abuse, have an increased tendency to direct their attention toward alcohol related stimuli – a so called, attentional bias. The Alco-Attention app uses principles of cognitive bias modification, to actively alter and retrain the attention of individuals from being focused on alcohol toward soft-drinks.

This application is used as a part of large-scaled, multi-center, randomized controlled trial (RCT), which investigates whether the training program can improve the existing treatment for alcohol use disorder. Thus, this app primarily targets individuals with alcohol-related problems, but anyone interested in using and trying the features of the app, are able to get access through the inbuilt guest-user functionality. The application has been developed by researchers at the Research Unit of Psychiatry (RUP), Department of Clinical Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Southern Denmark.

Question 1: Is this app a game?

Short answer, no. Although the app may seem like a game, this is a serious training program that is based on preliminary scientific evidence, which suggests that it can be beneficial for improving attentional control and reverting bias toward stimuli related to certain addictive disorders.

Question 2: Is it possible to use the application without being enrolled in the scientific trial?

Yes, we have a guest user option that allows anyone to use all the features of the application.

The application is used for a research project that examines the effectiveness of an attentional control training program to reduce bias towards alcohol. The sign-in is required for participants enrolled in the project, but other users are available to use the app without signing in using the "guest user" feature. We have provided a user for testing the functionality that is implemented for study participants. There is only need for a userID, which also works as a unique password.