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The relationship between regular substance use and cost comparisons in stable and volatile learning contexts
Sonia G Ruiz1, Samuel Paskewitz2, Arielle Baskin-Sommers2
1Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. sonia.ruiz@yale.edu.
Translational Psychiatry
|January 30, 2026
Summary
Individuals with more years of substance use showed inconsistent decision-making, particularly after avoiding losses. This suggests that how people use cost information, not just insensitivity to it, impacts continued substance use despite negative consequences.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Substance use severity is linked to impaired cost-benefit decision-making.
- Limited research exists on how individuals evaluate multiple costs or how context affects cost consideration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how individuals with varying substance use severity evaluate and compare multiple costs.
- To examine the influence of context on the consideration of cost information in decision-making.
Main Methods:
- A novel loss-frame variant of a probabilistic learning task was administered to a diverse community sample (N=137) with enriched substance use.
- Computational modeling was used to analyze decision-making parameters.
Main Results:
- Individuals with more years of regular substance use demonstrated a tendency to not repeat choices after avoiding losses.
- These individuals showed similar choices irrespective of incurring or avoiding a loss.
- Computational modeling revealed greater inconsistency in their use of expected values to guide choices.
Conclusions:
- Inconsistency in using cost information, rather than simple insensitivity to costs, may better explain continued substance use despite negative consequences.
- Findings contribute to a nuanced conceptualization of substance use severity and decision-making deficits.
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