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
. 2018 Mar;4(1):65-75.
doi: 10.1037/tps0000144.

A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Marijuana and Other Drug Use Among Heavy Drinking Young Adults

Lidia Z Meshesha  1 , Bettina Utzelmann  2 , Ashley A Dennhardt  1 , James G Murphy  1
Affiliations

A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Marijuana and Other Drug Use Among Heavy Drinking Young Adults

Lidia Z Meshesha et al. Transl Issues Psychol Sci. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Behavioral economic models predict that deficits in substance-free reward and future time orientation are associated with greater drug involvement, but this hypothesis has not been systematically investigated among young adult heavy drinkers. This study evaluated the association between drug use levels (heavy drinking (HD) only, HD + marijuana use, and HD + polysubstance use) and substance-free activity engagement, future orientation, and reward deprivation (comprised of reward experience and environmental suppressors of reward) among heavy drinkers.

Method: Participants were 358 college students who reported two or more past-month heavy drinking episodes (5/4 or more drinks in one occasion for a man/woman). The sample was 60% women, 79% Caucasian, and the average age was 18.76 (SD = 1.07) years. Participants completed measures of alcohol and drug use, weekly time allocation to various activities, future time orientation, and reward deprivation.

Results: Overall, any drug use was associated with less time spent engaged in academics and exercise, and lower future time orientation compared to HD only. Any drug use was associated with reward deprivation and HD + polysubstance use was associated with lower reward experience and environmental suppressors.

Conclusion: Drug use among heavy drinkers is associated with lower academic engagement and exercise, future orientation, and reward deprivation. These results provide support for behavioral economic models of drug abuse and suggest that prevention approaches should attempt to increase future orientation and availability of drug-free reward.

Keywords: Behavioral economics; alcohol; future time orientation; marijuana; polysubstance; reward deprivation.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Adams J, Nettle D. Time perspective, personality and smoking, body mass, and physical activity: An empirical study. British Journal of Health Psychology. 2009;14(1):83–105. - PubMed
    1. American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II: Reference Group Executive Summary Spring 2016. American College Health Association; Hanover, MD: 2016.
    1. Amlung M, Vedelago L, Acker J, Balodis I, MacKillop J. Steep delay discounting and addictive behavior: a meta-analysis of continuous associations. Addiction 2016 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arria AM, Caldeira KM, Bugbee BA, Vincent KB, O’Grady KE. The academic consequences of marijuana use during college. Psychol Addict Behav. 2015;29(3):564–75. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arria AM, Garnier-Dykstra LM, Caldeira KM, Vincent KB, Winick ER, O’Grady KE. Drug use patterns and continuous enrollment in college: Results from a longitudinal study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 2013;74(1):71–83. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources