Episodic Future Thinking: Expansion of the Temporal Window in Individuals with Alcohol Dependence

Background Episodic future thinking (EFT) requires an individual to vividly pre‐experience a realistic future event. Inspired by previous reports of reducing delay discounting following EFT in other populations, we examined the effects of engaging alcohol‐dependent individuals in EFT or episodic rec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research clinical and experimental research, 2016-07, Vol.40 (7), p.1558-1566
Main Authors: Snider, Sarah E., LaConte, Stephen M., Bickel, Warren K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Alcohol Dependent
Alcoholism - psychology
Commerce
Cues
Delay Discounting
Demand
Episodic Future Thinking
Ethanol - economics
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Purchase Task
Thinking
Time Factors
Young Adult
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Summary:Background Episodic future thinking (EFT) requires an individual to vividly pre‐experience a realistic future event. Inspired by previous reports of reducing delay discounting following EFT in other populations, we examined the effects of engaging alcohol‐dependent individuals in EFT or episodic recent thinking (ERT; control) to examine its effects on delay discounting and alcohol purchasing. Methods Participants (n = 50) with alcohol dependence were allocated into EFT or ERT groups and asked to generate positive future or recent past events for each of 5 time points. Participants then completed a delay‐discounting task, during which event cues were displayed, and a hypothetical alcohol purchase task. Results EFT significantly increased valuation of future monetary rewards, while decreasing initial consumption (Q0) of alcoholic drinks indicative of lower demand intensity. Two additional findings suggest potential moderators of this effect. EFT more readily influenced individuals with lower Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores, and self‐reported cue valence differed between groups. Conclusions Together, these results suggest a widening of alcohol‐dependent individuals’ temporal window following engagement of EFT. While our data suggest that EFT may be moderated by certain susceptibility criteria, exercises such as EFT could be easily adaptable as a potential therapeutic tool for use in rehabilitation programs. Episodic future thinking (EFT), the vivid pre‐experience of a realistic future event, significantly increased the valuation of future monetary rewards compared to episodic recent thinking (Control). Group differences are displayed as delay discounting indifference points (left) and area under the curve (right) *p 
ISSN:0145-6008
1530-0277
DOI:10.1111/acer.13112