Delay and probability discounting: Examining the relationship between caffeine withdrawal and impulsivity

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Delay and probability discounting: Examining the relationship between caffeine withdrawal and impulsivity Glen Tanner1* and Stephen Provost1 1 Southern Cross University, Psychology, School of Health and Human Sciences, Australia Impulsivity is linked to drug dependency. Research has found that both nicotine and amphetamine-dependent individuals delay discount (DD) hypothetical monetary gains more steeply than matched controls. Within these dependent populations, discounting levels have been shown to spike during cessation/withdrawal, providing insight to perhaps why certain individuals respond better to abstinence-based treatments than others. Despite being the world's most widely consumed psychostimulant, the effect between caffeine withdrawal and impulsivity is yet to be examined using the delay discounting measure. Aims: The present study aims to explore the relationship between caffeine withdrawal and impulsivity as measured by the delay discounting (DD) procedure. It was predicted that abstinent regular coffee/caffeine consumers would show steeper levels of discounting than non-abstinent coffee/caffeine consumers. Method: Participants were randomly allocated to either a before or after caffeine consumption group. Both groups completed identical online surveys regarding their regular caffeine consumption, followed by two hypothetical discounting tasks. Discounting tasks involved hypothetical questions regarding investment choices. Results on discounting tasks were calculated via the ‘area under the curve’ (AUC) method. Results: The caffeine withdrawal condition was predicted to have steeper discounting curves than the non-caffeine condition. A positive correlation was predicted between the level of weekly caffeine consumption and discounting levels. Conclusions: Validating previous research for other stimulants, conditional support was found for a correlation between caffeine withdrawal and impulsivity. However, these results could also be explained by other well-documented symptoms of stimulant withdrawal such as confusion or anxiety. Further efforts should be devoted to determining the effect anxiety has on impulsivity as measured by the delay discounting procedure. Keywords: Caffeine, impulsivity, withdrawal, delay discounting, dependency Conference: 12th Annual Psychology Research Conference, 2015, Coffs Harbour, Australia, 25 Sep - 26 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Research Topic: Psychology Citation: Tanner G and Provost S (2015). Delay and probability discounting: Examining the relationship between caffeine withdrawal and impulsivity. Front. Psychol. Conference Abstract: 12th Annual Psychology Research Conference, 2015. doi: 10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2015.66.00003 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 23 Sep 2015; Published Online: 23 Sep 2015. * Correspondence: Mr. Glen Tanner, Southern Cross University, Psychology, School of Health and Human Sciences, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450, Australia, g.tanner.10@student.scu.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Glen Tanner Stephen Provost Google Glen Tanner Stephen Provost Google Scholar Glen Tanner Stephen Provost PubMed Glen Tanner Stephen Provost Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.