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Behav Brain Res. 2019 May 17;364:334-339. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.02.017. Epub 2019 Feb 12.
While the link between delay discounting and drug addiction has been well established, much less is known about probability discounting (PD) in the context of substance abuse. This study is the first to investigate how opioid-dependent individuals make risky decisions about gains and losses using the PD paradigm. Fifty-six opioid-dependent adults receiving opioid maintenance therapy and 55 controls performed two tasks that assessed PD of hypothetical monetary gains and losses, and completed the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11). Patient participants exhibited greater PD for gains than did controls, suggesting that patients were more risk-averse when considering potential rewards. Patients also demonstrated greater PD for losses, indicating that patients made riskier decisions to avoid a loss compared to controls. BIS-11 scores were not significantly associated with either discounting parameter, and PD of gains and losses were not meaningfully correlated. The results provide initial evidence that individuals addicted to illicit substances discount probabilistic losses and gains differently than non-drug abusing cohorts, and in a way that maps onto drug taking behaviour. This pattern of discounting has implications for substance abuse treatments that target problematic risk taking.
虽然延迟折扣与药物成瘾之间的联系已经得到充分证实，但在物质滥用的背景下，关于概率折扣（PD）的了解要少得多。本研究首次调查了阿片类药物依赖者如何使用 PD 范式对收益和损失做出冒险决策。56 名接受阿片类药物维持治疗的阿片类药物依赖成年人和 55 名对照者完成了两项任务，评估了对假设货币收益和损失的 PD，并完成了巴瑞特冲动量表（BIS-11）。与对照组相比，患者组对收益的 PD 更高，这表明患者在考虑潜在奖励时更倾向于规避风险。患者对损失的 PD 也更大，表明与对照组相比，患者为了避免损失而做出了更冒险的决策。BIS-11 评分与任何折扣参数均无显著相关性，收益和损失的 PD 也无明显相关性。研究结果初步表明，与非药物滥用群体相比，滥用非法物质的个体对概率性损失和收益的折扣方式不同，而且这种方式与药物使用行为相吻合。这种折扣模式对以解决问题的冒险行为为目标的物质滥用治疗具有重要意义。
