Practicing prospection promotes patience: Repeated episodic future thinking cumulatively reduces delay discounting.

Autor: Mellis AM; Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA. Electronic address: ammellis@vt.edu., Snider SE; Addiction Recovery Research Center, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Roanoke, VA, 24016, USA. Electronic address: sniderse@vtc.vt.edu., Deshpande HU; Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA. Electronic address: harsh87@vt.edu., LaConte SM; Stephen M. LaConte, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA. Electronic address: slaconte@vtc.vt.edu., Bickel WK; 540-526-2088, Addiction Recovery Research Center, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Roanoke, Virginia, 24016, USA. Electronic address: wkbickel@vtc.vt.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Drug and alcohol dependence [Drug Alcohol Depend] 2019 Nov 01; Vol. 204, pp. 107507. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Aug 26.
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.06.010
Abstrakt: Background: Delay discounting, or the preference for smaller, sooner over larger, later rewards, has been associated with alcohol use disorder and problem drinking. Episodic future thinking has been suggested as an intervention to address steep delay discounting. In the present study, we examined the effect of up to six consecutive sessions of episodic future thinking.
Methods: Repeated, within-subject data were collected from current and recent problem drinkers (n = 50) over six sessions. Linear mixed-effect models were used to estimate effects of repeated sessions and manipulations. Participants completed episodic future thinking interviews at up to six sessions, in which they generated personalized future events. Participants also engaged with cues of scarcity. At each session, participants completed three delay discounting tasks under: a no-cue baseline condition, a future cue condition, and a scarcity cue condition.
Results: Delay discounting in the no cue condition did not change over time. Discounting rates were reduced in the future cue condition, and these effects grew larger with repeated sessions. In the scarcity condition, discounting rates were slightly higher, with no effect of repeated sessions.
Conclusions: Episodic future thinking reduced delay discounting rate while future cues were presented, and these effects grew larger with repeated sessions. This suggests that repeated episodic future thinking may cumulatively potentiate repair of excessive preference for immediate reward.
(Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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