Mobile assessment of decisions to drink in young adults: Examining the role of incentives and disincentives.

BACKGROUND: Research on decision-making (DM) biases in persons with alcohol use disorder have largely relied on behavioral economic DM tasks, which do not assess the dynamic multitude of factors associated with real-world decisions about drinking. The current study extends the literature on DM and alcohol use by using a mobile daily diary approach to investigate whether, and how, real-world incentives and disincentives are associated with actual drinking decisions in college students. METHODS: We assessed current drinking and lifetime alcohol problems in 104 young adults (61.5% female, 84.5% White) who, for 14 days, used a mobile daily diary to respond to questions about drinking decisions from the day prior. Mobile prompts assessed daily data on the timing of drinking decisions, alcohol quantity initially decided to drink, quantity actually decided to drink, and the incentives that influenced drinking decisions. RESULTS: Users of the app reported high usability, high compliance rates were observed, and incentive responses were reduced to three subtypes: alcohol, social/party, and mood. Daily mobile measures of drinking quantity were strongly correlated with self-reported drinking 2 weeks prior to the daily assessment. Lifetime alcohol problems were positively related to the average quantity decided to drink per event, drinking more than initially decided, and higher levels of self-reported drinking-decision incentives. "Alcohol" and "social/party" incentives were positively related to the quantity the participant decided to drink at drinking events. Mood incentives and disincentives showed little to no significant relationships with drinking decisions. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that mobile data collection can be useful for assessing aspects of real-world drinking decisions and the influence of multiple drinking decision incentives.

A New Perspective on "Drinking" Self: A Network Approach to Characterizing Drinking-Related Changes in Personality.

BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that self-knowledge, particularly perceptions of oneself as a "drinker," may influence the development and progression of alcohol use and related problems, such as binge drinking. While existing studies have provided empirical evidence for the importance of assessing drinking self-perception within the five-factor model of personality framework, further examination with novel analytic methods, such as network analyses, could improve understanding of the drinker self-concept. Methods: Five factor traits of openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability were assessed among a large sample of young adults (n = 423) across "general" and "drinking" contexts. Features of the personality networks were investigated, including topology, network centrality, stability of the network across "general" and "drinking" assessments, as well as differences in the network across the two assessments. Results: Individual personality items were more related to other items within the same trait than to other traits. There was no most central item in the networks, but item strength was uncorrelated to mean-level of the item. The network structure was stable across both assessments, although the overall strength of item relationships significantly increased in the drinking personality network. Conclusions: Examining drinking personality using a network analytic framework provided novel insights into drinker self-concept and the role drinking contexts might play in self-perception of personality in those contexts.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2034874 .

The problems with delay discounting: a critical review of current practices and clinical applications.

Delay discounting paradigms have gained widespread popularity across clinical research. Given the prevalence in the field, researchers have set lofty expectations for the importance of delay discounting as a key transdiagnostic process and a 'core' process underlying specific domains of dysfunction (e.g. addiction). We believe delay discounting has been prematurely reified as, in and of itself, a core process underlying psychological dysfunction, despite significant concerns with the construct validity of discounting rates. Specifically, high delay discounting rates are only modestly related to measures of psychological dysfunction and therefore are not 'core' to these more complex behavioral problems. Furthermore, discounting rates do not appear to be specifically related to any disorder(s) or dimension(s) of psychopathology. This raises fundamental concerns about the utility of discounting, if the measure is only loosely associated with most forms of psychopathology. This stands in striking contrast to claims that discounting can serve as a 'marker' for specific disorders, despite never demonstrating adequate sensitivity or specificity for any disorder that we are aware of. Finally, empirical evidence does not support the generalizability of discounting rates to other decisions made either in the lab or in the real-world, and therefore discounting rates cannot and should not serve as a summary measure of an individual's decision-making patterns. We provide recommendations for improving future delay discounting research, but also strongly encourage researchers to consider whether the empirical evidence supports the field's hyper-focus on discounting.

The Influence of Harm Avoidance and Impulsivity on Delay Discounting Rates.

High rates of delay discounting are associated with a range of disorders characterized by behavioral disinhibition, such as substance abuse and childhood behavioral problems. The current study extends the research of the personality correlates of delay discounting by examining its association with two domains of disinhibited personality, impulsivity and low harm avoidance. Trait measures of impulsivity and harm avoidance as well as a delay discounting task were administered to 669 young adult subjects (350 male, 319 female). The primary hypothesis was that a combination of high impulsivity and low harm avoidance would be associated with the highest delay discounting rates. Delay discounting rates were significantly associated with high levels of impulsivity. Counterintuitively, the highest rates of delay discounting were associated with high rates of impulsivity and high rates of harm avoidance. Results suggest that those high in impulsivity and harm avoidance are more sensitive to immediate rewards. These results are novel and suggest more complex processes involved when considering a choice between an immediate and a delayed reward that may require longer waiting periods, which itself may be anxiety providing and perceived as potentially harmful.

Sex Differences in Trait Anxiety's Association with Alcohol Problems in Emerging Adults: The Influence of Symptoms of Depression and Borderline Personality.

OBJECTIVE: The co-occurrence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and internalizing psychopathology, such as anxiety and depression, has been well documented. However, most studies of the association between alcohol problems and anxiety, and do not simultaneously consider depression or borderline personality, which covary strongly with both anxiety symptoms and AUDs. The current study examined sex differences in the association between alcohol problems and anxiety, while accounting for depressive and borderline personality (BPD) symptoms. METHOD: A sample 810 (364 females) young adults aged 18-30 recruited from the community, who varied widely in lifetime alcohol problems, were administered diagnostic interviews and measures of a trait anxiety, depression, and BPD symptoms. RESULTS: Analyses revealed that trait anxiety, depression, and borderline symptoms were all significantly associated with higher lifetime alcohol problems in both males and females. However, the association between trait anxiety and alcohol problems was significantly stronger for males compared with females, even when controlling for depression and BPD symptoms. There were no significant sex differences in the association between alcohol problems and symptoms of either depression or BPD symptoms. CONCLUSION: This suggests specific sex differences in the mechanisms by which trait anxiety is associated with alcohol problems.

Predictors of Effective Working Memory Training in Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Low working memory (WM) capacity is associated with alcohol use disorders (AUDs). The importance of WM to adaptive functioning has led to a recent influx of studies attempting to improve individual WM capacity using various cognitive training methods. The present study aimed to examine the efficacy of complex WM training for improving WM capacity among individuals with AUD. METHODS: Individuals were randomized to complete either adaptive WM training or active control training. We applied a methodologically rigorous and structured approach, including a battery of near and moderate transfer measures in those with AUDs and a control group. Additionally, we examined cognitive factors (at baseline) and other predictors of adherence, training task improvement, and transfer. RESULTS: Results suggest improved WM in individuals with AUDs and controls, as evidenced by improved scores on several transfer measures, after adaptive WM training. However, individuals with AUDs showed poorer adherence and less improvement on the training tasks themselves. Neither IQ, WM, sex, nor condition predicted adherence. Level of training task performance, baseline WM, and IQ predicted transfer task improvement. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to rigorously examine both the efficacy of WM training in those with AUDs, and predictors of successful training program adherence and transfer in a large sample. Among study completers, results suggest that AUD status does not predict training improvement and transfer. However, AUD status did predict lower program adherence. WM training was more effective in those with higher cognitive ability at baseline. This study provides direct translation to the development of cognitive interventions for treating AUD.

Ethics and Phishing Experiments.

Phishing is a fraudulent form of email that solicits personal or financial information from the recipient, such as a password, username, or social security or bank account number. The scammer may use the illicitly obtained information to steal the victim's money or identity or sell the information to another party. The direct costs of phishing on consumers are exceptionally high and have risen substantially over the past 12 years. Phishing experiments that simulate real world conditions can provide cybersecurity experts with valuable knowledge they can use to develop effective countermeasures and prevent people from being duped by phishing emails. Although these experiments contravene widely accepted informed consent requirements and involve deception, we argue that they can be conducted ethically if risks are minimized, confidentiality and privacy are protected, potential participants have an opportunity to opt out of the research before it begins, and human subjects are debriefed after their participation ends.

Decisions to Attend and Drink at Party Events: The Effects of Incentives and Disincentives and Lifetime Alcohol and Antisocial Problems.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorders are associated with patterns of impulsive/risky decision making on behavioral economic decision tasks, but little is known about the factors affecting drinking-related decisions. METHODS: The effects of incentives and disincentives to attend and drink at hypothetical alcohol-related party events as a function of lifetime (LT) alcohol and antisocial problems were examined in a sample of 434 young adults who varied widely in LT alcohol and antisocial problems. RESULTS: Moderate and high disincentives substantially discouraged decisions to attend the party events and were associated with decisions to drink less at the party events. High versus low party incentives were associated with more attendance decisions. LT antisocial problems were associated with being less deterred from attending by moderate and high disincentives. LT alcohol problems were associated with greater attendance at high party incentive contexts. LT alcohol problems were associated with drinking more at the majority of events; however, the results indicate that young adults with high levels of alcohol problems moderate their drinking in response to moderate and high disincentives. Finally, attendance and drinking decisions on this hypothetical task were significantly related to actual drinking practices. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that antisocial symptoms are associated with a reduced sensitivity to the potential negative consequences of drinking, while alcohol problems are associated with a greater sensitivity to the rewarding aspects of partying. The results also underline the value of directly assessing drinking-related decisions in different hypothetical contexts as well as assessing decisions about attendance at risky drinking events in addition to drinking amount decisions.

Delay Discounting of Losses in Alcohol Use Disorders and Antisocial Psychopathology: Effects of a Working Memory Load.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are associated with increased discounting of delayed rewards and reduced executive working memory (eWM) capacity. This association is amplified when comorbid with antisocial psychopathology (AP). Furthermore, recent studies suggest that reduced WM capacity is associated with disinhibited decisions reflected by increased impulsive decision making on the delay discounting of rewards task. While discounting of delayed rewards is well studied, the discounting of delayed losses has received significantly less experimental attention. METHODS: The current study investigated (i) the rate of discounting of delayed losses in individuals with AUD only (n = 61), AUD with comorbid AP (n = 79) and healthy controls (n = 64); (ii) the relationship between eWM capacity and discounting of delayed losses; and (iii) the effect of a WM load on discounting of delayed losses. Discounting performance was assessed using a computerized discounting of delayed losses task. RESULTS: Results showed that the AUD-only and AUD-AP groups had higher rates of discounting of delayed losses and lower eWM capacity compared to the control groups. Lower individual eWM capacity was associated with increased discounting of delayed losses. However, WM load did not increase discounting rates overall. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the hypothesis that greater discounting of delayed losses is associated with AUD and comorbid AP problems and lower individual eWM capacity.

The Impact of Gain- and Loss-Framed Messages on Young Adults' Sexual Decision Making: An Experimental Study.

Messages that frame a target behavior in terms of its benefits (gain frame) or costs (loss frame) have been widely and successfully used for health promotion and risk reduction. However, the impact of framed messages on decisions to have sex and sexual risk, as well as moderators of these effects, has remained largely unexplored. We used a computerized laboratory task to test the effects of framed messages about condom use on young adults' sexual decision making. Participants (N = 127) listened to both gain- and loss-framed messages and rated their intentions to have sex with partners who posed a high and low risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The effects of message frame, partner risk, participant gender, ability to adopt the messages, and message presentation order on intentions to have sex were examined. Intentions to have sex with high-risk partners significantly decreased after the loss-framed message, but not after the gain-framed message, and intentions to have sex increased for participants who received the gain-framed message first. Yet, participants found it easier to adopt the gain-framed message. Results suggest that loss-framed messages may be particularly effective in reducing intentions to have sex with partners who might pose a higher risk for STIs, and that message presentation order may alter the relative effectiveness of gain- and loss-framed messages on sexual decision making. Future studies should examine the precise conditions under which gain- and loss-framed messages can promote healthy sexual behaviors and reduce sexual risk behaviors.

Neural mechanisms of high-risk decisions-to-drink in alcohol-dependent women.

A hallmark of alcohol dependence (AD) is continually drinking despite the risk of negative consequences. Currently, it is not known if the pattern of disordered activation in AD is more compatible with an over-sensitive reward system, a deficit in control systems or a combination of both to produce the high risk-taking behavior observed in alcohol dependents (ADs). Here, alcohol cues were used in an ecological decisions-to-drink task that involved high- and low-risk scenarios where the chance of serious negative imagined consequences was varied. Non-alcohol cues were included as control stimuli. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal change in 15 alcohol-dependent and 16 control women. This design allowed us to address two major questions concerning AD: first, is there a specific pattern of disordered activation that drives the heightened endorsement of high-risk decisions-to-drink in ADs? And, second, is that pattern specific to decisions-to-drink or does it generalize to other appetitive and/or neutral cues? The results showed that, during high-risk decisions-to-drink, alcohol-dependent women activated reward circuits, cognitive control circuits and regions of the default-mode network (DMN), while control women deactivated approach circuits and showed enhanced activation in regions of the DMN. Group differences were found only for decisions-to-drink, suggesting that they are specific to alcohol cues. Simultaneous activation of reward networks, cognitive control networks and the DMN in alcohol-dependent women suggests that over-endorsement of high-risk drinking decisions by alcohol-dependent women may be due to a problem with switching between different neural networks.

Applying a dual process model of self-regulation: The association between executive working memory capacity, negative urgency, and negative mood induction on pre-potent response inhibition.

This study tested a dual-process model of self-control where the combination of high impulsivity (negative urgency - NU), weak reflective / control processes (low executive working memory capacity - E-WMC), and a cognitive load is associated with increased failures to inhibit pre-potent responses on a cued go/no-go task. Using a within-subjects design, a cognitive load with and without negative emotional load was implemented to consider situational factors. Results suggested that: (1) high NU was associated with low E-WMC; (2) low E-WMC significantly predicted more inhibitory control failures across tasks; and (3) there was a significant interaction of E-WMC and NU, revealing those with low E-WMC and high NU had the highest rates of inhibitory control failures on all conditions of the task. In conclusion, results suggest that while E-WMC is a strong independent predictor of inhibitory control, NU provides additional information for vulnerability to problems associated with self-regulation.

The event-based influence of incentivizing and physical contexts on daily alcohol initiation and consumption.

BACKGROUND: Young adults often decide to engage in heavy drinking. Learning more about the real-time factors that predict decisions to initiate a drinking episode and how much is consumed in any single drinking episode is necessary in developing our understanding of momentary alcohol use and discrete decisions surrounding alcohol use. METHODS: The current study examined the association between contextual factors and decisions to initiate and consume alcohol in 104 young adult individuals over 2 weeks via mobile daily diary. Participants responded to daily notifications about decisions to drink or not and the contextual factors surrounding each event. The contextual factors included the situation (e.g., bar setting and pregaming) and incentives (e.g., alcohol, social, and mood enhancement). RESULTS: Multilevel analyses revealed that incentives predicted both the initiation of drinking and the amount consumed. Event-based alcohol and mood incentives predicted the initiation of drinking, while alcohol, mood, and social/party incentives predicted how much was consumed at a specific event. However, context had a more complex association with drinking outcomes. Being in a bar, alone, or at a residence predicted decisions to initiate drinking, while being in a bar, pregaming situation, or other party situation with others who are drinking predicted how much a person drank. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the importance of studying event-specific predictors of drinking decisions and the complex association between context/location and the type of drinking decision or outcome.

The nomological network of drinker identity: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Despite the growing interest in the construct of drinker identity and empirical evidence for its role in drinking behavior, there is a paucity of papers that evaluate and integrate the results of studies on drinker identity, leaving a gap in our knowledge of the importance of the drinker identity construct. The current paper addresses this gap by reviewing and integrating the results of the studies of drinker identity. METHODS: The scoping review identified, retrieved, and evaluated the existing literature regarding drinker identity. English language studies from EBSCOHost, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus databases were reviewed. Studies were included in the review if they were data-based studies or theoretical publications with drinker identity as the primary topic published in peer-reviewed journals. Studies were reviewed and coded based on their reported methodology and findings and codes were used to integrate and present findings. RESULTS: This review advances this line of research in four ways. First, the operationalization of drinker identity is evaluated by examining the theoretical frameworks defining the construct. Second, the conceptualization and measurement of drinker identity is assessed, with suggestions for future measurement research. Third, an integrated framework of predictors, outcomes, moderators, and mediators is presented. Finally, the research gaps, future recommendations, and clinical implications are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for continued research, specifically research which aims to standardize and improve measurement of drinker identity, considers longitudinal and developmental processes, and broadens the research samples and settings.

A daily diary exploration of contexts and experiences associated with planned drinking decisions in young adults.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the potential for negative consequences, young adults continually engage in heavy alcohol use. Unplanned (vs. planned) drinking has been of particular interest in several studies, as it is theoretically suggested to be related to poor behavioral regulation and negative consequences. Ecological momentary assessment and daily diary (DD) studies have been used to examine the contexts and consequences of planned and unplanned drinking specifically, resulting in somewhat mixed findings surrounding the factors contributing to and consequences of planned drinking. The present DD study adds to this literature by studying rewarding incentives and physical contexts of planned versus unplanned alcohol use, as well as the experiences, or consequences, of planned drinking events. METHOD: Ninety-nine young adults took part in a mobile study investigating drinking decisions for the current day and day prior, reporting the rewarding incentives contributing to their decision, the context of drinking events, and the experience of each event. RESULTS: Planned drinking was associated with being influenced by social/party and alcohol incentives, as well as being at a bar and pregaming. There was a positive relationship between planned drinking and subjective level of intoxication, but not negative or positive experience. CONCLUSIONS: Planned drinking is likely associated with rewarding incentives and social contexts and may contribute to higher levels of subjective intoxication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Social incentives are stronger predictors of drinking decisions than alcohol incentives in young adults: The role of alcohol use disorder.

This study investigated the influence of social incentives, alcohol incentives, and responsibility disincentives on decisions to attend and drink at party events in young adult college students (n = 82; 55 women, 27 men) where 36 (20 women; 16 men) had an Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and 46 (35 women; 11 men) were control participants without an AUD. In this within-subjects design, participants were presented with a series of hypothetical drinking event scenarios that varied in terms of social incentives (knowing many vs. few people), alcohol incentives (more vs. less alcohol available), and next-day responsibility disincentives (high vs. moderate vs. low). Participants were asked whether they would attend the event and how many drinks they would consume. Social incentives significantly predicted both decisions to attend party events and decisions about how much to drink for all participants. Participants were more likely to decide to attend and drink more at high social incentive party events (where they knew more people). However, while low social incentives generally discouraged attendance decisions, AUD participants were more likely than controls to decide to attend party events in low social incentive contexts. Alcohol incentives did not affect attendance decisions. However, alcohol incentives did increase drinking amount decisions for AUD participants. Finally, while disincentives decreased attendance and drinking amount decisions in general, AUD participants were less deterred by responsibility disincentives than controls. The results highlight the important influence of social rewards on drinking-related decisions and suggest individual differences in how incentives and disincentives affect drinking decisions in persons with an AUD.

Applying network analysis to investigate substance use symptoms associated with drug overdose.

BACKGROUND: Drug overdose deaths have been increasing over the last several decades. While single substance classes, such as opioids, have been implicated in this rise, less is known about the contributions of polysubstance use (PSU) and other combinations of specific substances and symptoms that may be a risk factor for drug overdose. METHODS: Symptoms of alcohol, cannabis, and other drug use disorders, as well as co-substance use indicators, were assessed and then examined via network analysis in a sample of young adults (N = 1540). Features of the estimated symptom network were investigated, including topology and node centrality, as well as bridge centrality, which further examines node centrality while accounting for the nodes belonging to discrete communities. RESULTS: Individual symptoms were more strongly associated with other symptoms within the same substance class than across substance classes. Tolerance and withdrawal symptoms were the most central items in the network. However, when accounting for symptoms belonging to discrete substance classes, drug overdose emerged as a strong bridge symptom, among others. CONCLUSIONS: As a strong bridge symptom, drug overdose had many connections with a variety of substances and symptoms, which might suggest that risk for drug overdose may be a function of overall substance use severity. Altogether, examining alcohol and substance use symptoms using a network analytic framework provided novel insights into the role PSU might play in conferring risk for drug overdose.

Is lower severity alcohol use disorder qualitatively different than more severe manifestations? An evaluation of multivariate symptom clusters.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Alcohol use disorder (AUD), since the release of DSM-V, is conceptualized and studied as a unidimensional construct. However, previous research has identified clusters of AUD symptoms related to excessive consumption/tolerance, loss of control/social dysfunction and withdrawal/craving that have shown differential genetic risks, personality associations and predictive ability. Although past 'variable-centered' (e.g. factor-analytic) studies have demonstrated the importance of these clusters, the current study aimed to examine how these clusters commonly manifest using a 'person-centered' approach (e.g. latent class). DESIGN: Cross-sectional in-person assessment. SETTING: Indiana, USA. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 1390 young adults (mean age = 21.43, SD = 2.47) recruited for an over-representation of alcohol problems (65% with AUD). MEASUREMENTS: Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted on 23 criteria from the Semi-Structured Interview on the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) that align with DSM-V AUD symptoms. Identified latent classes were characterized using multinomial regressions to examine the association of class and measures of alcohol use, other externalizing psychopathology, internalizing problems and personality. FINDINGS: LCA results identified a 'Low Problems' class (34% of sample), a 'Heavy Consumption' class (26%) characterized by high endorsement probabilities of essentially only consumption/tolerance symptoms, a 'Consumption and Loss of Control' class (31%) characterized by endorsing consumption/tolerance and loss of control/social dysfunction symptoms, and finally a 'Consumption, Loss of Control and Withdrawal' class (9%) characterized by high endorsement probabilities of all symptom clusters. Multinomial regression results indicated an increasing spectrum of severity in terms of psychological impairment. CONCLUSIONS: AUD appears to manifest as different clusters of symptoms at different severity levels.

Slower rates of learning to inhibit behavior in alcohol use disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with passive avoidance learning (PAL) deficits. This study investigated PAL deficits in AUD by using a novel growth model approach to quantify patterns of PAL as changes in false alarms over time, rather than the typical index of total false alarms in a PAL task. METHOD: Subjects, 112 (58 men; 54 women) with an AUD and 110 controls (44 men; 66 women), were administered a monetary incentive Go/No-Go task. Subjects could win $0.25 for a hit (response after a GO) or lose $0.25 for a false alarm. RESULTS: PAL rate was quantified as the slope of initial learning phase (across the first 5 blocks) on the Go/No-Go task. The PAL curves indicated rapid learning in first 5 blocks followed by a later slower learning across blocks 6-9 (consolidation phase). A piecewise growth model with random intercepts indicated that AUD status was significantly associated with a slower initial PAL (i.e. learning phase), with B = -0.69, p < 0.001 for the control group and a PAL slope of 0.13 higher for the AUD group indicating a slower learning rate in the AUD group. This effect was not observed in the consolidation phase. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that those with an AUD have greater difficulty learning to avoid negative consequences compared with controls. The results also suggest that measuring PAL rate by focusing on the rate of learning early in the task may be a better index of PAL learning than simply looking at overall false alarm rate. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).