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Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task
Published on: January 9, 2016
Polysubstance use: delay discounting in relationship to remission
Fatima Quddos1, Devin C Tomlinson2, Rafaela M Fontes1
1Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA.
Abstract:
The contemporary addiction landscape is characterized by a high prevalence of polysubstance use. Here, we investigated the associations of delay discounting (DD) and other recovery outcomes with proportion of remission (PrR; i.e., the proportion of substances an individual is in remission from relative to lifetime SUD history), a continuous construct that may better capture progress towards recovery in polysubstance use. Individuals (n = 2,097) with poly-substance use disorder (polySUD) were recruited from the International Quit & Recovery Registry (IQRR). Individuals completed a $1000 adjusting amount DD task, and questions about current and past substance use. We report that DD was significantly associated with PrR in individuals with polySUD. In addition, recovery related variables, i.e., maximum time in recovery, and maximum quit time also were significantly associated with PrR. Further, we found that the relationship between maximum time in recovery and PrR was serially mediated by DD and maximum quit time across substances. Together, interventions that focus on harm reduction and/or those that modulate DD may lead to improved clinical outcomes (including quit time and PrR) in individuals with a history of polysubstance use.
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