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Updated: May 29, 2026

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task
Published on: January 9, 2016
Relations between delay discounting and low to moderate gambling, cannabis, and alcohol problems among university
Jonathan N Stea1, David C Hodgins, Michael J Lambert
1Department of Psychology, Program in Clinical Psychology, University of Calgary, Canada. jnstea@ucalgary.ca
Abstract:
Research has generally demonstrated that the discounting of delayed rewards is associated with severity of addictive behaviour. Less clear, however, is the relative strength of the relation for specific addictive behaviours. University students (N=218) completed a computerized delay discounting task for hypothetical monetary rewards, and gambling, cannabis, and alcohol problem severity was assessed. A multiple regression analysis revealed that while the overall model was significant, only gambling problem severity accounted for delay discounting scores above and beyond cannabis and alcohol problem severity. The results support the hypothesis that delay discounting of hypothetical monetary rewards is more associated with gambling than other addictive behaviour problems, including substance use problems.
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