Monetary Delay Discounting Research Articles

Episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting among persons who use e-cigarettes.

There has been an alarming increase in e-cigarette dependence among young adults, many of whom would like to quit vaping nicotine but are finding it difficult to do so. Episodic future thinking (EFT), a cognitive intervention involving imagining future events, has been shown to reduce cigarette craving, demand intensity, and self-administration among cigarette smokers but has not been tested with e-cigarette users. This study tested if a brief EFT intervention decreases delay discounting and smoking choice using a within-subjects experimental design administered via Zoom. Daily young adult e-cigarette users attended a baseline session and two counterbalanced experimental sessions: (a) EFT in which participants preexperienced and described positive future events and (b) standardized episodic thinking, a control intervention in which participants described their experiences watching three short videos. Measures of craving, mood, and delay discounting across three commodities: Money, e-cigarette products, and food were completed pre- and postmanipulation. As predicted, monetary delay discounting showed a greater decrease following EFT relative to standardized episodic thinking (p = .006; ηp² = .229). There were no effects on craving or mood. Participants also completed a 40-min vaping versus money choice task. Approximately 70% of participants chose to abstain for the full 40 min after EFT compared to 60% after the control condition, a nonsignificant difference (p = .184). Additional research is needed to support the efficacy of EFT as an intervention for helping e-cigarette users increase their ability to abstain. The study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting experimental research on e-cigarettes in a virtual setting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Delay discounting and nucleus accumbens functional connectivity are related to weight status in adolescents from the ABCD study.

Despite the growing epidemic of paediatric obesity, questions remain regarding potential neural mechanisms for individual risk. Delay discounting is a cognitive process of comparison of valuation between immediate and delayed reward, which has been inconsistently linked to weight status. Moreover, central to the brain's reward system is the nucleus accumbens, a region structurally and functionally altered in obesity. This study aimed to examine the relationships between two continuous metrics of weight status, performance on a monetary delay-discounting task and nucleus accumbens functional connectivity in 10-12-year-olds from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Using multilevel longitudinal linear modelling, we found greater discounting was associated with higher BMI Z-scores (BMIz) and waist-to-height ratio Z-scores (WHtRz) (N = 3819). Moreover, we observed functional connectivity of the nucleus accumbens to the cingulo-opercular, dorsal attention, fronto-parietal, salience and ventral attention networks were predictive of BMIz (N = 1817). Nucleus accumbens functional connectivity was not found to mediate the association between delay-discounting behaviour and BMIz. Delay discounting and nucleus accumbens functional connectivity are independently related to weight status in a large sample of early adolescents. A better understanding of the relationship between reward and overeating behaviours may better inform obesity interventions.

To What Extent Are College Students’ Delay Discounting and Systematic Responding Rates Related to Time of Semester?

Researchers who use undergraduate participants may be concerned about variation in data quality at different times of the semester. For instance, students who are more self-controlled may get their course credit earlier in the semester whereas those who procrastinate may wait until the end. Therefore, a potential time-of-semester effect may influence research data. This study sought to examine the relation between time of semester and delay discounting (DD)—a process that refers to an individual’s sensitivity to delayed rewards. DD may also directly relate to the decision to participate in research. Undergraduate participants completed money (n = 149) and food (n = 150) DD measures. Patterns in DD were examined across the semester. The number of systematic responders (i.e., those that follow a hyperbolic discounting curve) was also examined to determine the extent to which inattentive or random responding might be related to time of semester. Regression analyses revealed that money DD was consistent and stable across the semester. Food DD, controlling for subjective hunger as a co-variate increased slightly, though significantly, at the end of the semester. The percentage of participants with systematic discounting remained high throughout the semester for money and food DD, however, food DD had more variability, particularly towards the middle of the semester. Therefore, for college students, monetary DD is consistent across time of semester, but food DD slightly increases as the semester ends.

Triple network resting-state functional connectivity patterns of alcohol heavy drinking.

Previous neuroimaging research in alcohol use disorder (AUD) has found altered functional connectivity in the brain's salience, default mode, and central executive (CEN) networks (i.e. the triple network model), though their specific associations with AUD severity and heavy drinking remains unclear. This study utilized resting-state fMRI to examine functional connectivity in these networks and measures of alcohol misuse. Seventy-six adult heavy drinkers completed a 7-min resting-state functional MRI scan during visual fixation. Linear regression models tested if connectivity in the three target networks was associated with past 12-month AUD symptoms and number of heavy drinking days in the past 30days. Exploratory analyses examined correlations between connectivity clusters and impulsivity and psychopathology measures. Functional connectivity within the CEN network (right and left lateral prefrontal cortex [LPFC] seeds co-activating with 13 and 15 clusters, respectively) was significantly associated with AUD symptoms (right LPFC: β = .337, p-FDR = .016; left LPFC: β = .291, p-FDR = .028) but not heavy drinking (p-FDR > .749). Post-hoc tests revealed six clusters co-activating with the CEN network were associated with AUD symptoms-right middle frontal gyrus, right inferior parietal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and left and right cerebellum. Neither the default mode nor the salience network was significantly associated with alcohol variables. Connectivity in the left LPFC was correlated with monetary delay discounting (r =.25, p = .03). These findings support previous associations between connectivity within the CEN network and AUD severity, providing additional specificity to the relevance of the triple network model to AUD.

Poor sleep quality and stress differentially predict delay discounting for food, but not money, in college students

AbstractEarly college is a time when eating habits change and subsequent weight gain may occur. Moreover, college students report higher stress levels and poorer sleep quality while enrolled in courses. This study investigated the extent to which stress and sleep quality in college students may be related to delay discounting (DD) for food—a psychological process in which immediate outcomes are preferred over larger, more delayed outcomes. College students (N = 297) completed the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) and the Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ)—measures of food and monetary DD, respectively. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and measures of subjective hunger, substance use, and demographic variables were also administered. Perceived stress was related to poor sleep quality, alcohol use, substance use, and vaping. Analyses revealed that, when controlling for subjective hunger, perceived stress and poor sleep quality contributed unique variance to food DD, though in opposing directions. Perceived stress uniquely predicted preferences for immediate food, a phenomenon consistent with stress‐induced urgent eating. Poor sleep quality uniquely predicted preferences for larger amounts of delayed food, a pattern consistent with eating later in the day. Stress and sleep quality, when controlling for substance use variables, were unrelated to monetary discounting. Stress and poor sleep quality, then, predict independent and opposing discounting processes in college students that are food‐specific, as opposed to more general cross‐commodity processes.

Cognitive Predictors of Delay Discounting in Monetary Choices

Delay discounting, the tendency to choose a smaller-sooner reward over a larger-later reward, is thought of as an expression of personality and cognitive impulsivity. In our study (N = 397), we focused on the cognitive dimension and examined the associations between monetary delay discounting tasks and various individual difference cognitive measures. A higher delay discounting was associated with performance on the tasks of general cognitive ability, cognitive reflection, scientific reasoning, and objective numeracy positively, and with self-reported intuitive thinking disposition and bias susceptibility negatively. However, of all the tasks, the overall bias susceptibility predicted delay discounting over and above all other cognitive predictors we employed. The results support the assumption about a common basis of higher monetary delay discounting and susceptibility to cognitive biases. Because of the relatively low explained variance in delay discounting by cognitive predictors, however, ample room is left for other potential personality predictors in these tasks.

Intoxication Effects on Impulsive Alcohol Choice in Heavy Drinkers: Correlation With Sensation Seeking and Differential Effects by Commodity.

The preference for immediate rewards and high sensation seeking are both potent risk factors for alcohol use disorder (AUD), but how they interact during intoxication is poorly understood. To model decision making linked to AUD risk, we tested heavy drinkers for impulsive choice (delay discounting with alcohol:money or money:money) and behavioral sensation seeking using a novel odor choice task. Laboratory tasks measured actual behavior with real contingencies. Our goals were to determine, in heavy drinkers, (i) alcohol's effects on delay discounting, and (ii) how AUD risk factors relate to delay discounting, and (iii) how delay discounting with alcohol choices compares with strictly monetary choices. Thirty-five heavy drinkers (≥2 binges per month; age=22.8±2.2; 20 male; 5.8±2.3 drinks/drinking day) performed cross-commodity discounting (CCD) of immediate alcohol vs. delayed money, a monetary delay discounting (DD), and behavioral sensation-seeking tasks. CCD and DD were performed while sober and during controlled alcohol infusion targeting 0.08g/dl. The behavioral sensation-seeking task presented binary choices of odorants varying in intensity and novelty, and the risk of exposure to a malodorant. CCD and DD behaviors were highly correlated across conditions, mean r=0.64. Alcohol increased delayed reward preference in DD, p=0.001, but did not alter mean CCD, p>0.16. However, alcohol-induced changes in CCD correlated with behavioral sensation seeking, such that higher sensation seekers' immediate alcohol preference increased when intoxicated, p=0.042; self-reported sensation seeking was uncorrelated, ps>0.08. Behavioral sensation seeking also correlated with "want" alcohol following a priming dose targeting 0.035g/dl, p=0.021. CCD and DD did not correlate with self-reported drinking problems or other personality risk traits. Alcohol increased impulsive alcohol choice in high sensation seekers, suggesting an interaction that may underlie impaired control of drinking, at least in a subset of heavy drinkers-consistent with models highlighting high novelty/sensation-seeking AUD subtypes. Discounting behavior overall appears to be a generalized process, and relatively stable across methods, repeated testing, and intoxication. These findings further support the utility of behavioral tasks in uncovering key behavioral phenotypes in AUD.

The Effects of Obligatory and Preferential Frames on Delay Discounting

Human decision making is partly determined by the verbal stimuli involved in a choice. Verbal stimuli that may be particularly relevant to human decision making are the words should and like, whereby should is presumably associated with what one ought to choose, and like is presumably associated with what one prefers to choose. The current study examined the potential effects of should and like on decisions in a monetary delay-discounting task. Eighty-three participants were recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk and were randomly assigned to a sequence of 2 conditions-should and like-in a repeated-measures experimental design. Based on condition assignment, the questions "Which should you choose?" and "Which would you like to choose?" appeared above each monetary option and its respective delay. Overall, participants demonstrated significantly lower levels of discounting in the should condition when compared to the like condition. However, this effect was much less consistent for participants exposed to the should condition prior to the like condition. The results of the current investigation indicate that the use of the words should and like constitutes separate classes of verbal stimuli that we refer to as obligatory and preferential frames. The effect of obligatory and preferential frames on delay discounting may be relevant to the prediction and control of decision making in social contexts.

Delay Discounting as a Transdiagnostic Process in Psychiatric Disorders

Delay discounting is a behavioral economic index of impulsive preferences for smaller-immediate or larger-delayed rewards that is argued to be a transdiagnostic process across health conditions. Studies suggest some psychiatric disorders are associated with differences in discounting compared with controls, but null findings have also been reported. To conduct a meta-analysis of the published literature on delay discounting in people with psychiatric disorders. PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched through December 10, 2018. The psychiatric keywords used were based on DSM-IV or DSM-5 diagnostic categories. Collected data were analyzed from December 10, 2018, through June 1, 2019. Following a preregistered Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol, 2 independent raters reviewed titles, abstracts, and full-text articles. English-language articles comparing monetary delay discounting between participants with psychiatric disorders and controls were included. Hedges g effect sizes were computed and random-effects models were used for all analyses. Heterogeneity statistics, one-study-removed analyses, and publication bias indices were also examined. Categorical comparisons of delay discounting between a psychiatric group and a control group. The sample included 57 effect sizes from 43 studies across 8 diagnostic categories. Significantly steeper discounting for individuals with a psychiatric disorder compared with controls was observed for major depressive disorder (Hedges g = 0.37; P = .002; k = 7), schizophrenia (Hedges g = 0.46; P = .004; k = 12), borderline personality disorder (Hedges g = 0.60; P < .001; k = 8), bipolar disorder (Hedges g = 0.68; P < .001; k = 4), bulimia nervosa (Hedges g = 0.41; P = .001; k = 4), and binge-eating disorder (Hedges g = 0.34; P = .001; k = 7). In contrast, anorexia nervosa exhibited statistically significantly shallower discounting (Hedges g = -0.30; P < .001; k = 10). Modest evidence of publication bias was indicated by a statistically significant Egger test for schizophrenia and at the aggregate level across studies. Results of this study appear to provide empirical support for delay discounting as a transdiagnostic process across most of the psychiatric disorders examined; the literature search also revealed limited studies in some disorders, notably posttraumatic stress disorder, which is a priority area for research.

Relationship between monetary delay discounting and obesity: a systematic review and meta-regression.

Previous studies have documented that high rates of delay discounting are associated with obesity. However, studies utilizing monetary reward experiments typically report no associations, as opposed to positive associations apparent in studies utilising food-reward experiments. Our objective was to investigate the reasons behind the mixed evidence from a methodological perspective using systematic review and meta-analytic methodologies. Seven databases (EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, Econlit and IBSS) were systematically searched. Logistic meta-regression was applied to identify the determinants of a significant association and risk of bias was assessed using a modified form of the Newcastle Ottawa cohort scale. A total of 59 studies were identified, among which 29 studies (49.2%) found a significant positive association and 29 (49.2%) reported no association. A higher proportion of significant and positive associations was reported in those studies utilizing 'best-practice' methods (i.e. appropriate measurement models) to estimate monetary delay discounting (15/27; 55.6%) and incentive-compatible experiments (10/16; 62.5%) than those using non-'best-practice' methods (14/34; 41.2%) and hypothetical experiments (19/43; 44.2%). All five studies utilizing both 'best-practice' methods and incentive-compatible experiments generated a positive and significant relationship. Results from a logistic meta-regression also suggested that studies employing incentive-compatible experiments (OR: 4.38, 95% CI = 1.05-18.33, p value: 0.04), 'best-practice' methods (OR: 4.40, 95% CI = 0.88-22.99, p value: 0.07), parametric methods (OR: 3.36, 95% CI = 0.83-13.57, p value: 0.04), those conducted in children/adolescent populations (OR: 3.90, 95% CI = 0.85-17.88, p value: 0.08), and those with larger sample size (OR: 1.91, 95% CI = 1.15-3.18, p value: 0.01) tended to show positive and significant associations between delay discounting and obesity. This review suggests that the mixed evidence to date is a result of methodological heterogeneity, and that future studies should utilise 'best practice' methods.

Concordance between monetary and sexual delay discounting in men who have sex with men.

Participants completed an online survey, including the Monetary Choice Questionnaire and the Sexual Discounting Task. Linear regression models were used to assess the association between monetary and sexual discount rates. Sexual discount rates did not predict monetary discount rates. There was a substantial amount of clustering of sexual discount rates, requiring sexual discounting data to be categorised. Monetary and sexual delay discounting are distinct processes that are not necessarily associated within individuals, and monetary delay discounting is not an appropriate proxy measure for sexual impulsivity. Data from the Sexual Discounting Task are typically rank-transformed for analysis. These data suggest that this might be an invalid method of analysis. Future studies should investigate the distribution of their data to determine if it is appropriate to analyse sexual discounting data as a continuous measure.

Delay Discounting of Reward and Impulsivity in Eating Disorders: From Anorexia Nervosa to Binge Eating Disorder.

Evidence points to eating disorder patients displaying altered rates of delay discounting (one's degree of preference for immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards). Anorexia nervosa (AN) patients are believed to have an increased capacity to delay reward, which reflects their ability to override the drive to eat. Contrarily, binge eating disorder (BED) patients are associated with a reduced predisposition to delay gratification. Here, we investigated monetary delay discounting and impulsivity in 80 adult women with EDs (56 AN and 24 BED), diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria, and 80 healthy controls. AN-restrictive (AN-R) subtype patients showed less steep discounting rates than BED and AN-bingeing/purging subtype patients. Compared with healthy controls and AN-R patients, BED and AN-bingeing/purging patients presented higher delay discounting and positive and negative urgency levels. Our findings suggest that restriction in AN-R patients is associated with disproportionate self-control, whereas bingeing behaviours could be more driven by emotional states and impulsivity traits. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

“What time is my next meal?” delay-discounting individuals choose smaller portions under conditions of uncertainty

‘Dietary’ delay discounting is typically framed as a trade-off between immediate rewards and long-term health concerns. Our contention is that prospective thinking also occurs over shorter periods, and is engaged to select portion sizes based on the interval between meals (inter-meal interval; IMI). We sought to assess the extent to which the length of an IMI influences portion-size selection. We predicted that delay discounters would show ‘IMI insensitivity’ (relative lack of concern about hunger or fullness between meals). In particular, we were interested in participants' sensitivity to an uncertain IMI. We hypothesized that when meal times were uncertain, delay discounters would be less responsive and select smaller portion sizes. Participants (N = 90) selected portion sizes for lunch. In different trials, they were told to expect dinner at 5pm, 9pm, and either 5pm or 9pm (uncertain IMI). Individual differences in future-orientation were measured using a monetary delay-discounting task. Participants chose larger portions when the IMI was longer (p < 0.001). When the IMI was uncertain, delay-discounting participants chose smaller portions than the average portion chosen in the certain IMIs (p < 0.05). Furthermore, monetary discounting mediated a relationship between BMI and smaller portion selection in uncertainty (p < 0.05). This is the first study to report an association between delay discounting and IMI insensitivity. We reason that delay discounters selected smaller portions because they were less sensitive to the uncertain IMI, and overlooked concerns about potential future hunger. These findings are important because they illustrate that differences in discounting are expressed in short-term portion-size decisions and suggest that IMI insensitivity increases when meal timings are uncertain. Further research is needed to confirm whether these findings generalise to other populations.

Multidimensional assessment of impulsivity in relation to obesity and food addiction

Based on similarities between overconsumption of food and addictive drugs, there is increasing interest in “food addiction,” a compulsive eating pattern defined using symptoms parallel to substance use disorders. Impulsivity, a multidimensional construct robustly linked to drug addiction, has been increasingly examined as an obesity determinant, but with mixed findings. This study sought to clarify relations between three major domains of impulsivity (i.e., impulsive personality traits, discounting of delayed rewards, and behavioral inhibition) in both obesity and food addiction. Based on the association between impulsivity and compulsive drug use, the general hypothesis was that the impulsivity-food addiction relation would be stronger than and responsible for the impulsivity-obesity relation. Using a cross-sectional dimensional design, participants (N = 181; 32% obese) completed a biometric assessment, the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scales, a Go/NoGo task, and measures of monetary delay discounting. Results revealed significantly higher prevalence of food addiction among obese participants and stronger zero-order associations between impulsivity indices and YFAS compared to obesity. Two aspects of impulsivity were independently significantly associated with food addiction: (a) a composite of Positive and Negative Urgency, reflecting proneness to act impulsively during intense mood states, and (b) steep discounting of delayed rewards. Furthermore, the results supported food addiction as a mediator connecting both urgency and delay discounting with obesity. These findings provide further evidence linking impulsivity to food addiction and obesity, and suggest that food addiction may be a candidate etiological pathway to obesity for individuals exhibiting elevations in these domains.

Cocaine administration dose-dependently increases sexual desire and decreases condom use likelihood: The role of delay and probability discounting in connecting cocaine with HIV.

Although cocaine use has been linked to sexual HIV risk behavior for decades, the direct effects of cocaine on sexual desire and sexual decision-making are unexamined. Research suggests delay discounting (devaluation of future outcomes) and probability discounting (devaluation of uncertain outcomes) play roles in condom use decisions. This study examined the effect of cocaine administration on sexual desire, hypothetical condom use, and discounting tasks. This double-blind, within-subjects study compared the effects of 0, 125, and 250mg/70kg oral cocaine HCl in 12 cocaine users. Measures included sexual desire and other subjective ratings, the Sexual Delay Discounting Task, the Sexual Probability Discounting Task, and monetary delay and probability discounting tasks. Cocaine caused dose-related increases in sexual desire and prototypical stimulant abuse-liability ratings. Relative to placebo, cocaine did not significantly alter condom use likelihood when condoms were immediately available or when sex was associated with 100% certainty of sexually transmitted infection (STI). In contrast, cocaine dose-dependently strengthened the effect of delay (sexual delay discounting) and STI uncertainty (sexual probability discounting) in decreasing condom use likelihood. Cocaine caused no significant change in monetary delay and probability discounting. This is the first study showing thatcocaine administration increases sexual desire. Detrimental effects of cocaine on sexual risk were only observed when safer sex required delay, or STI risk was uncertain (representative of many real-world scenarios), suggesting a critical role of discounting processes. Lack of monetary effects highlights the importance of studying clinically relevant outcomes when examining drug effects on behavioral processes.

Age-dependent effects in the association between monetary delay discounting and risky sexual behavior.

BackgroundMonetary delay discounting is a measure of impulsivity associated with substance use and abuse, problem gambling, and other health-related outcomes. More recently, delay discounting has been shown to be associated with risky sexual behavior. We analyzed survey data from men who have sex with men who completed a monetary discounting task and reported sexual behaviors in the previous 12 months.FindingsMonetary delay discounting was associated with condomless anal intercourse among young (18–24 years), but not older, men who have sex with men.ConclusionsMonetary delay discounting may identify young men at increased risk of engaging in HIV risk behaviors.

Weekly Energy Drink Use Is Positively Associated with Delay Discounting and Risk Behavior in a Nationwide Sample of Young Adults.

Background: Energy drink use is associated with increased risk behavior among adolescents and college students. This study examined this relationship in a nationwide sample of young adults and also examined relations between energy drink use and delay discounting. Methods: Participants were 874 U.S. adults 18-28 years of age with past 30-day consumption of caffeine and alcohol. Participants completed an online survey of energy drink use, drug use, sexual activity, alcohol misuse (alcohol use disorders identification test [AUDIT]), sensation seeking (four-item Brief Sensation Seeking Scale [BSSS-4]), and delay discounting of monetary rewards and condom use. Results: Over one-third of participants (n = 303) reported consuming energy drinks at least once per week. Weekly energy drink users were more likely than less-than-weekly energy drink users to report a recent history of risk behaviors, including cigarette smoking (56% vs. 28%, p < 0.0001), illicit stimulant use (22% vs. 6%, p < 0.0001), and unprotected sex (63% vs. 45%, p < 0.0001). Covariate-adjusted analyses found that weekly energy drink users did not have significantly higher BSSS-4 scores (3.5 vs. 3.1, p = 0.098), but they had higher mean AUDIT scores (8.0 vs. 4.8, p < 0.0001), and they more steeply discounted delayed monetary rewards. Although weekly energy drink users did not show steeper discounting of delayed condom use, they showed a lower likelihood of using a condom when one was immediately available. Conclusions: This study extends findings that energy drink use is associated with risk behavior, and it is the first study to show that energy drink use is associated with monetary delay discounting.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Monetary Delay Discounting: A Meta-Analysis of Case-Control Studies

A growing number of studies have investigated delay discounting, a behavioral economic index of impulsivity, and its relevance to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but with mixed findings. The current meta-analysis synthesizes the literature on the relationship between monetary delay discounting and ADHD in studies using case-control designs. Specifically, the objectives were: 1) to characterize the aggregated differences in monetary delay discounting between individuals with ADHD (cases) and controls in studies using categorical case-control designs; 2) to examine potential differences based on sample age (<18 vs. >18), reward outcome (real vs. hypothetical), and prevalence of conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder in the sample; and 3) to evaluate potential small-study (publication) bias in the literature. From 567 candidate articles, 21 independent investigations yielded 25 case-control comparisons (total N=3,913). Random effects meta-analysis was conducted using Cohen's d as the common effect size. Publication bias was evaluated using fail-safe N, Begg-Mazumdar and Egger tests, and metaregression of publication year and effect size. Across studies, a statistically significant difference of medium magnitude effect size was present for the case-control comparisons (d=0.43; p < 10-15). No significant differences based on sample age, reward outcome, or comorbid status was detected. Minimal heterogeneity and evidence of publication bias was present. These findings provide robust evidence that delay discounting is significantly elevated among individuals with ADHD compared to controls. Gaps in the literature and the importance of characterizing the neural and genetic bases of this relationship are discussed.

Impulsivity as a Risk Factor for HIV Transmission in Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Delay Discounting Approach

Delay discounting (DD) is a measure of impulsivity that describes the subjective decline in value of a consequence as the delay to that consequence increases. We sought to assess whether the results of a monetary DD task would be predictive of sexual risk-taking in a group of Internet-using men who have sex with men (MSM). 1402 participants completed an online survey that included questions about the participant’s demographics, sexual history and behavior, drug use, sexual compulsivity, and a monetary DD task. High DD was associated with increased odds of reporting >2 UAI partners in the past 12 months [aOR = 1.5 (1.1–2.1)]. Future studies should examine the utility of DD as a predictor of risky sexual behavior, as well as explore the possibility of HIV prevention interventions targeting DD.

Monetary delay discounting in gambling and cocaine dependence with personality comorbidities

BackgroundCocaine addiction and pathological gambling are commonly associated with steeper (impulsive) discounting of delayed rewards, which promotes ongoing drug and gambling behaviors. However, it is yet unclear whether impulsive delay discounting is a stable trait in cocaine and gambling disorders during abstinence, and whether it is significantly impacted by dysfunctional personality beliefs. MethodsThe aim of this study was to compare the delay discounting rates of four groups: 47 cocaine users with comorbid personality disorders, 41 cocaine users without psychiatric comorbidities, 28 pathological gamblers without psychiatric comorbidities, and 36 healthy comparison individuals. We also examined the association between dysfunctional personality beliefs and delay discounting rates. Participants completed the Kirby Delay Discounting Questionnaire and the Beck Personality Belief Questionnaire as part of a larger battery. ResultsWe used non-parametric tests to compare discounting rates between the groups, and bivariate correlation analyses to examine the association between beliefs and discounting rates within each of the groups. We found that discounting rates were significantly higher in individuals with disordered gambling compared to controls. Specifically in cocaine users with Cluster B personality disorders, higher discounting rates were associated with the intensity of “dependent” dysfunctional beliefs (e.g., “I am needy and weak”). ConclusionWe conclude that impulsive delay discounting is increased in gambling relative to controls and linked to personality beliefs in cocaine users with Cluster B personality disorders.