Adolescent smokers rate delayed rewards as less certain than adolescent nonsmokers

This research compared adolescent smokers (n=45) and nonsmokers (n=35) on ratings of certainty about receiving delayed rewards during a delay discounting procedure. Consistent with a previous finding [Patak, M., Reynolds, B., 2007. Question-based assessments of delay discounting: do respondents spontaneously incorporate uncertainty into their valuations for delayed rewards? Addict. Behav. 32, 351-357] participants generally rated the delayed rewards as increasingly uncertain with longer delays, and ratings of certainty were correlated with delay discounting (r=.37). Also, the adolescent smokers rated the delayed rewards as significantly less certain than the nonsmokers. These findings indicate that adolescents who smoke cigarettes evaluate delayed outcomes as less certain than adolescents who do not smoke cigarettes.