Valuation of future alcohol in cross-commodity delay discounting is associated with alcohol misuse/consequences.

OBJECTIVE

Delay discounting (DD) refers to the reduction in reward value as a function of its delay, and individuals who misuse alcohol typically exhibit high rates of DD, which may reflect a general preference for immediate outcomes. This interpretation is based on studies utilizing single-commodity DD tasks where the same commodity is available immediately and following a delay. Cross-commodity DD tasks require individuals to choose between different commodities at varying delays and may provide the potential to further illuminate intertemporal preference associated with alcohol misuse. The present study examined associations between single-commodity and cross-commodity DD rates with alcohol use metrics among young adults.

METHOD

DD by young adults ( = 70, aged 19-24, 71% male, 80% White) who engage in hazardous drinking was examined using a fully parametric combination of immediate and delayed alcohol and money outcomes. We hypothesized that past 30-day alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences would be associated with preference for alcohol outcomes independent of whether alcohol was immediate or delayed.

RESULTS

Results support the hypothesis, as past 30-day consumption and AUDIT scores were positively associated with rate of DD in the immediate alcohol versus delayed money task and negatively associated with rate of DD in the immediate money versus delayed alcohol task. Moreover, we found the immediate money versus delayed alcohol task provided unique explanatory power for individual alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS

The observed associations indicate that willingness to invest in future access to alcohol may be associated with elevated alcohol use and related consequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).