The hidden-zero effect in male individuals with opioid use disorder

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Explicitly expressing the hidden opportunity cost in intertemporal choice significantly reduces healthy participants’ delay discounting – a phenomenon named the “hidden-zero effect,” which is undetermined in individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether the hidden-zero effect occurs among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) and the degree to which this effect differs between the OUD group and healthy controls. Methods: In two different experiments, Exp#1) 29 male individuals with OUD (13.5 ± 6.0 months abstinence) and 29 male controls performed an intertemporal choice task (ICT); Exp#2) 28 male individuals with OUD (17.5 ± 5.6 months abstinence) and 27 male controls performed a delay discounting task (DDT). The OUD group was recruited from a mandatory treatment, and controls from WeChat. There were two choice conditions in both two tasks: the hidden-zero (H0) condition (standard), and the explicit-zero (E0) condition (explicitly expressing opportunity cost). Results: Compared with the H0 condition, all participants’ delay discounting was significantly decreased in the E0 condition (ps < .05, η p 2 = 0.254, 0.110). There was no significant difference in the changed degree between these two groups in either experiment (ps > .05). The delay discounting of the OUD group was significantly higher than that of controls only in Experiment 2 (p < .001, η p 2 = 0.376). Conclusion: This study extended the population in which the hidden-zero effect occurs to individuals with OUD. With respect to delay discounting, the hidden-zero effect benefit did not differ in OUD and control participants.