Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Sep;35(9):1607-13.
doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01507.x. Epub 2011 May 20.

Greater discounting of delayed rewards in young adults with family histories of alcohol and drug use disorders: studies from the Oklahoma family health patterns project

Ashley Acheson  1 , Andrea S Vincent, Kristen H Sorocco, William R Lovallo
Affiliations

Greater discounting of delayed rewards in young adults with family histories of alcohol and drug use disorders: studies from the Oklahoma family health patterns project

Ashley Acheson et al. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2011 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Increased discounting of delayed rewards may be a premorbid characteristic and possible risk factor for alcohol and other drug use disorders; however, previous studies have found no or minimal differences in delay discounting in individuals at risk for substance use disorders based on family history. It is possible that increased delay discounting may be more closely associated with antisocial traits, evident in a subset of individuals with positive family histories of alcohol and drug use disorders, and that previous studies were underpowered for detecting subtle to modest overall group differences.

Methods: In this study, we compared 143 young adults with family histories of alcohol and other drug use disorders (FH+) and 155 young adults with no such histories (FH-) on delay discounting and subsequently examined how delay discounting was related to antisocial traits and other selected psychological and demographic variables.

Results: The FH+ group discounted delayed rewards more than the FH- group. Subsequent analyses revealed that increased delay discounting was correlated with having more parents and grandparents with alcohol and drug use disorders, more antisocial traits, more depressive tendencies and lower IQs, and lower income. After controlling for all these relationships, more antisocial traits and lower IQ still predicted greater delay discounting, and subsequent analysis revealed that the greater delay discounting in the FH+ group was mediated by this group's greater number of individuals with antisocial traits.

Conclusion: FH+ individuals who discount delayed rewards more may be at increased risk for developing alcohol and other drug use disorders; however, additional descriptive studies and longitudinal studies are needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of delay discounting of small, medium, and large hypothetical monetary rewards in FH+ and FH− individuals, as indexed by natural log transformed k values (mean ± SEM). FH+ participants discounted delayed rewards more impulsively, as indexed by higher k values. FH+ = subjects with a positive parental history of alcohol or drug abuse. FH− = persons with no alcohol or drug abuse in parents or grandparents.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Acheson A, Robinson JL, Glahn DC, Lovallo WR, Fox PT. Differential activation of the anterior cingulate cortex and caudate nucleus during a gambling simulation in persons with a family history of alcoholism: studies from the Oklahoma Family Health Patterns Project. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2009;100:17–23. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alessi SM, Petry NM. Pathological gambling severity is associated with impulsivity in a delay discounting procedure. Behav Processes. 2003;64:345–354. - PubMed
    1. Andreasen NC, Endicott J, Stitzer RL, Winokur G. The family history method using diagnostic criteria. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1977;34:1229–1235. - PubMed
    1. APA. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR. 4. American Psychiatric Association; Washington, DC: 2000.
    1. Barbor TF, de las Fuentes JR, Saunders JB, Grant M. AUDIT: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: Guidelines For Use in Primary Health Care. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 1992.

Publication types