Episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting in cigarette smokers

Abstract

Aims: Episodic future thinking (i.e., mental simulation of future life events) has been shown to reduce delay discounting in healthy and obese populations. In the present study, we sought to determine whether episodic future thinking would reduce delay discounting in cigarette smokers and whether this effect would differ between nicotine-deprived and -sated states. Methods: Cigarette smokers (N=12) completed a guided interview designed to generate vivid future events to occur following each of five delays used in a hypothetical delay-discounting task (i.e., one day to one year). In a within-subjects design, participants completed the discounting task in both nicotine-deprived and sated stateswhilewepresented textual cues associatedwith future events (active sessions) and recent past events (control sessions). Results: Episodic future thinking significantly reduced discounting when participants were both nicotine-deprived and –sated (in both cases, p< .05). However, Cohen’s d effect sizes indicated relatively stronger effects of episodic future thinking in the nicotine-deprived (d=0.55) vs. -sated (d=0.41) state. Conclusions: The present study extends prior research by demonstrating that episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting in cigarette smokers. The longevity and clinical impact of acute reductions in discounting with the use of episodic future thinking has yet to be determined. Financial Support: Institutional funds (WKB).