High Opportunity Cost Demand as an Indicator of Weekday Drinking and Distinctly Severe Alcohol Problems: A Behavioral Economic Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Behavioral economic theory views addiction as a reinforcer pathology characterized by excessive demand for drugs relative to alternatives. Complementary to this theory, Lamb and Ginsburg (Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 164, 2018, 62) describe addiction as a behavioral allocation disorder and predict that decisions to drink under increasingly stringent constraints are a central indicator of addiction. This study used a modified demand-curve paradigm to examine alcohol demand in the context of a next-day contingency (high opportunity cost demand) as a specific indicator of a severe pattern of alcohol problems.

Methods

Participants were 370 undergraduates (61.1% female, 86.5% white, M_age  = 18.8) reporting multiple past-month heavy drinking epis

SUBMITTER: Joyner KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6904428 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature