Putting prospection into practice: Methodological considerations in the use of episodic future thinking to reduce delay discounting and maladaptive health behaviors

Abstract

In recent years, episodic future thinking (EFT) has emerged as a promising behavioral intervention to reduce delay discounting or maladaptive health behaviors; however, considerable methodological heterogeneity in methods for eliciting engagement in EFT has been observed in prior research. In this narrative review, we briefly describe methods for generating EFT cues, the content of EFT cues, common control conditions for experiments utilizing EFT, and considerations for cue delivery and implementation. Where possible, we make suggestions for current best practices in each category while identifying gaps in knowledge and potential areas of future research. Finally, we conclude by using the NIH Stage model to better frame the current state of the literature on EFT and propose gaps to be addressed if EFT is to be both an efficacious and effective behavioral intervention.

Keywords: delay discounting; episodic future thinking; health behavior change; methods; narrative review.

Figure 1

Example data, replotted from Stein et al. (10), showing effects of an episodic future thinking (EFT) intervention on delay discounting (left) and the number of cigarette puffs earned during a self-administration task (right) in cigarette smokers.

Figure 2

Recreation of Figure 1 from Onken et al. (72). Depiction of the NIH stage model. Notched arrows denote pathways that should be considered with caution.