Future Thinking Priming Especially Effective at Modifying Delay Discounting Rates among Cigarette Smokers

Area of Science:

• Behavioral economics
• Addiction science
• Cognitive psychology

Background:

• Tobacco use is a leading preventable cause of death, with many smokers struggling to quit.
• Lower delay discounting (DD) rates correlate with higher smoking cessation success.
• Future thinking priming (FTP) is a technique shown to reduce DD rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if smoking status influences the effectiveness of FTP on DD rates.
• To determine if baseline DD rates explain any observed moderation by smoking status.

Main Methods:

• Moderation analysis was employed to compare the impact of FTP versus neutral priming (NP).
• The study assessed differences in DD rates between smokers and nonsmokers following the priming interventions.

Main Results:

• Smoking status significantly moderated the effect of FTP on post-intervention DD scores and DD change scores.
• FTP demonstrated a more pronounced effect in decreasing DD rates among smokers compared to nonsmokers.
• No evidence of rate dependence effects was found in this sample.

Conclusions:

• Future thinking priming (FTP) is an effective and easily administered intervention for reducing delay discounting (DD) in smokers.
• FTP shows promise as a therapeutic strategy to support smoking cessation efforts.
• The findings highlight the potential of cognitive interventions in addiction treatment.