Utility of the 5-trial adjusting delay task in screening for high delay discounting rates: A cohort study of individuals reporting harmful alcohol and tobacco use.

Abstract

High delay discounting (DD) rates are associated with several health conditions, including addiction. Investigators interested in the modulation of DD rates may be interested in screening for individuals with high DD rates within substance-using samples. The adjusting delay discounting task (ADT) is a brief DD rate measure suitable for screening purposes, but how performance on this task is related to more granular DD measures (e.g., adjusting amount task; AAT) in individuals who use substances is unknown. This study investigated the relationship between DD rates measured by the ADT and AAT to assess the utility of the ADT in screening for high discounting rates in individuals who use tobacco and alcohol. Participants (N = 488) were screened for high discounting rates, ln(k) ≥ -4.3118, using the ADT. Subsequently, participants completed the AAT. Linear regressions were conducted to understand the relationship between the ADT and AAT DD rates. Separate analyses between the total, high-quality and low-quality samples were conducted. Significant relationships between the ADT and AAT were found for the total (p < .001), high-quality (p < .001), and low-quality samples (p < .001). Although the ADT overestimated DD rates on the AAT by 2.49, 2.29, and 2.97 units in the total, high-quality, and low-quality samples, the ADT accurately identified individuals with high discounting rates. Specifically, 71% of the total sample, 80% of the high-quality sample, and 66% of the low-quality sample maintained a high DD rate on the AAT. These results demonstrate that ADT can be used as a quick, accurate screening tool to identify high discounting rates in individuals who use substances. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).