Using behavioral economic variables to predict future alcohol use in a crowdsourced sample

Justin C. Strickland, Joseph L. Alcorn, William W. Stoops

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Theoretical perspectives at the intersection of behavioral economics and operant theory have resulted in numerous advances for addiction science. Three mechanisms (i.e. behavioral economic demand [consumption-price relationships], delay discounting [reinforcer devaluation with delay], and proportionate alcohol-related reinforcement [relative reinforcement attributable to alcohol]) are proposed to contribute to problematic alcohol use. Limited research has evaluated the unique contribution of these mechanisms for predicting future alcohol consumption. Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictive relationship between these mechanisms and self-reported alcohol use frequency, quantity, and severity. Methods: Participants (n=223) sampled from the crowdsourcing website Amazon Mechanical Turk completed a survey containing behavioral economic measures. Weekly reports of daily alcohol use were then collected for 18 weeks. Unadjusted and adjusted models determined the association between behavioral economic variables and alcohol use. Results/outcomes: Behavioral economic measures were associated with alcohol and soda use at baseline in a stimulus-selective manner (e.g. alcohol demand associated with alcohol, but not soda, variables). Predictive models adjusted for Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test scores indicated that increased proportionate alcohol-related reinforcement and behavioral economic demand were uniquely and incrementally associated with frequency (e.g. adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=5.54 for proportionate alcohol-related reinforcement, p<0.05) and quantity-severity measures (e.g. AOR=7.58 for alcohol demand intensity, p<0.001), respectively. Test-retest reliability was generally acceptable (rxx=0.42–0.76) with the exception of proportionate alcohol-related reinforcement (rxx=0.29). Conclusion/interpretation: These findings indicate the unique, predictive, and incremental validity of behavioral economic measures for evaluating future alcohol consumption, supporting their continued use in addiction science research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)779-790
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Psychopharmacology
Volume33
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant T32DA035200), National Science Foundation (Grant 1247392), Pilot Funds from the University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, and Professional Development Funds from the University of Kentucky. These funding agencies had no role in study design, data collection or analysis, or preparation and submission of the manuscript. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Science Foundation, or University of Kentucky. The authors thank Jessica Annonio and Rita Basconi for technical assistance. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant T32DA035200), National Science Foundation (Grant 1247392), Pilot Funds from the University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, and Professional Development Funds from the University of Kentucky. These funding agencies had no role in study design, data collection or analysis, or preparation and submission of the manuscript. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Science Foundation, or University of Kentucky.

FundersFunder number
Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China1247392
Author National Institute on Drug Abuse DA031791 Mark J Ferris National Institute on Drug Abuse DA006634 Mark J Ferris National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism AA026117 Mark J Ferris National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism AA028162 Elizabeth G Pitts National Institute of General Medical Sciences GM102773 Elizabeth G Pitts Peter McManus Charitable Trust Mark J Ferris National Institute on Drug AbuseT32DA035200

    Keywords

    • Demand
    • Mechanical Turk
    • R-ratio
    • discounting

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Pharmacology
    • Psychiatry and Mental health
    • Pharmacology (medical)

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Using behavioral economic variables to predict future alcohol use in a crowdsourced sample'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this