Delay discounting is associated with substance use in college students

Area of Science:

• Behavioral economics
• Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Delay discounting, a measure of impulsivity, reflects the devaluation of future rewards.
• Substance use is a significant public health concern among college students.
• Understanding the relationship between impulsivity and substance use can inform prevention and intervention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between delay discounting and various substance use indicators in a college student sample.
• To determine if steeper discounting predicts earlier age of substance initiation and higher frequency of use.

Main Methods:

• Participants (N=47) completed a delay-discounting task and a substance use survey.
• The delay-discounting task involved choices between immediate and delayed hypothetical monetary rewards.
• Statistical analyses, including correlations, were used to assess associations.

Main Results:

• Steeper delay discounting was significantly associated with younger age of first alcohol, smoking, and marijuana use.
• Higher discounting values correlated with a greater number of alcohol-induced blackouts and a higher total number of illicit drugs used.
• These findings indicate a robust link between impulsivity and problematic substance use behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Individuals with higher delay discounting exhibit earlier initiation of substance use and engage in more frequent use.
• Impulsivity, as measured by delay discounting, is a significant correlate of substance use patterns in college students.
• These results highlight the potential of targeting delay discounting in interventions for substance use disorders.