Dataset Information

Willing to Work But Not to Wait: Individuals with Greater Alcohol Use Disorder Show Increased Delay Discounting Across Commodities and Less Effort Discounting for Alcohol.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Delay discounting refers to the devaluation of a reward given increasing delays to delivery. Similarly, effort discounting refers to the devaluation of a reward given increasing effort required to obtain it. Individuals with substance use disorder show higher rates of delay discounting, exacerbating short-term positive reinforcement at the expense of long-term consequences. This study explores how effort discounting compares to delay discounting behavior among alcohol users as well as how these preferences change between monetary and alcohol rewards. METHODS:A total of 100 participants completed an online survey through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participant alcohol use was evaluated using DSM-5 and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test criteria. All participants completed 4 randomized discounting tasks involving delay or effort discounting, in which the reward was money or alcohol. A follow-up experiment (n = 423) added the alcohol purchase task to assess alcohol valuation. RESULTS:Individuals with greater alcohol use disorder (AUD) severity discounted future money and alcohol significantly more than those with less AUD. However, individuals meeting more DSM-5 criteria were only willing to perform more effort for alcohol. The follow-up experiment replicated these findings and demonstrated that individuals with greater AUD also showed an increased valuation of alcohol and alcohol value-mediated effort discounting. CONCLUSIONS:These results suggest that individuals with greater AUD were less willing to wait for money or alcohol. While all participants were willing to work for money regardless of AUD severity, individuals with greater AUD showed increased valuation of alcohol drinks and were willing to exert more effort to obtain alcohol. Together, these results paint a picture of individuals with increased AUD as both more impulsive and willing to work to obtain alcohol, contributing to our understanding of decision making among individuals who abuse substances.

SUBMITTER: Phung QH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6502672 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Willing to Work But Not to Wait: Individuals with Greater Alcohol Use Disorder Show Increased Delay Discounting Across Commodities and Less Effort Discounting for Alcohol.

Phung Quan H QH Snider Sarah E SE Tegge Allison N AN Bickel Warren K WK

Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research 20190319 5

<h4>Background</h4>Delay discounting refers to the devaluation of a reward given increasing delays to delivery. Similarly, effort discounting refers to the devaluation of a reward given increasing effort required to obtain it. Individuals with substance use disorder show higher rates of delay discounting, exacerbating short-term positive reinforcement at the expense of long-term consequences. This study explores how effort discounting compares to delay discounting behavior among alcohol users as ...[more]

PMID: 30817019

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Project description:RationaleAlcohol use disorder (AUD) has been associated with greater discounting of delayed monetary rewards, but it is unclear whether this association is primarily related to alcohol consumption or is secondary to the presence of psychiatric comorbidities. It is also unclear if steeper rates of discounting are associated with greater AUD severity.ObjectiveWe sought to determine whether the presence of comorbid psychiatric disorders affected the relationship between AUD and delay discounting. We also examined whether more severe AUD was associated with greater delay discounting.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 793 adults completed a delay discounting task. Subjects were divided into four groups based on diagnosis: current AUD with psychiatric comorbidities (N = 226), current AUD without psychiatric comorbidities (N = 203), past AUD (N = 69), and healthy controls (N = 295). In those with AUD, we investigated the relationship between delay discounting and alcohol dependence symptom count and recent drinking history. We also compared individuals seeking treatment to non-treatment seeking individuals. Psychiatric comorbidities examined included mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders.ResultsAfter adjusting for age, sex, income, and education, individuals with current AUD showed significantly higher rates of delay discounting than healthy controls and individuals with a past diagnosis of AUD. The presence of comorbid psychiatric diagnoses was not associated with steeper discounting. Among those with AUD, there was no evidence for a continuous relationship between delay discounting and AUD severity or alcohol consumption. Finally, non-treatment seekers with AUD had steeper delay discounting than treatment seekers.ConclusionsIndividuals with AUD show steeper delay discounting than healthy adults, but the effect is small and there is no added effect from comorbid psychopathology or increased AUD severity. This suggests that steeper delay discounting may have a more limited effect on human alcohol use than previously supposed.

Project description:BackgroundDelay discounting is a potential etiological factor in adolescents' alcohol use, making it important to understand its antecedents. Family disorganization might contribute to delay discounting, but few studies have tested this relation. Moreover, because delay discounting is heritable, the effects of family disorganization on delay discounting might be moderated by adolescents' genetic risk for delay discounting. Thus, the current study examined the role of family disorganization, in interaction with genetic risk, in predicting adolescents' delay discounting and subsequent alcohol use.MethodsAdolescents participated in 4 waves of data collection. Adolescents self-reported their family disorganization at T1, completed a delay discounting questionnaire at T3, and self-reported their alcohol use both at T2 (covariate) and T4 (outcome). Using results from an independent sample, we created a polygenic risk score consisting of dopaminergic genes to index genetic risk for delay discounting.ResultsGreater family disorganization predicted adolescents' greater delay discounting, but only for adolescents with low levels of genetic risk for delay discounting. Adolescents with high and mean levels of genetic risk for delay discounting showed elevated delay discounting regardless of their family's disorganization. Greater delay discounting prospectively predicted adolescents' greater alcohol use. Finally, the effects of family disorganization on adolescents' alcohol use were mediated through delay discounting, but only for adolescents with low levels of genetic risk.ConclusionsResults suggest multiple pathways to delay discounting. Although there are genetically influenced pathways to delay discounting, family disorganization might represent an environmental pathway to delay discounting (and subsequent alcohol use) for a subset of adolescents at low genetic risk. These findings reinforce the utility of family interventions for reducing adolescents' delay discounting and alcohol use, at least for a subgroup of adolescents. Because higher family organization did not buffer against delay discounting among adolescents with high genetic risk, future research should explore other early environmental influences that could protect these high-risk adolescents from developing these risky behaviors.

Dataset Information

Willing to Work But Not to Wait: Individuals with Greater Alcohol Use Disorder Show Increased Delay Discounting Across Commodities and Less Effort Discounting for Alcohol.

Publications

Willing to Work But Not to Wait: Individuals with Greater Alcohol Use Disorder Show Increased Delay Discounting Across Commodities and Less Effort Discounting for Alcohol.

Similar Datasets

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