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

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

doi:10.1177/0269881119827800

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 journal › Article › peer-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 (r_xx=0.42–0.76) with the exception of proportionate alcohol-related reinforcement (r_xx=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 language	English
Pages (from-to)	779-790
Number of pages	12
Journal	Journal of Psychopharmacology
Volume	33
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881119827800
State	Published - 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.

Funders	Funder 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 China	1247392
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 Abuse	T32DA035200

Keywords

Demand
Mechanical Turk
R-ratio
discounting

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Pharmacology
Psychiatry and Mental health
Pharmacology (medical)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1177/0269881119827800

Cite this

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title = "Using behavioral economic variables to predict future alcohol use in a crowdsourced sample",

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.",

keywords = "Demand, Mechanical Turk, R-ratio, discounting",

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language = "English",

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AU - Stoops, William W.

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PY - 2019/7/1

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N2 - 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.

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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