Primed for Health: Future Thinking Priming Decreases Delay Discounting

Shevorykin, Alina; Pittman, Jami C.; Bickel, Warren K.; O’Connor, Richard J.; Malhotra, Ria; Prashad, Neelam; Sheffer, Christine E.

doi:10.14485/hbpr.6.4.5

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…EFT makes prospective events more salient and thus changes people's time perspective further into the future (Kurth-Nelson et al, 2012;Lin & Epstein, 2014). This shift towards a greater futureorientedness may lead to more farsighted decisions (Sheffer et al, 2016;Shevorykin et al, 2019). Supporting this account, there is some general evidence that more future-oriented individuals discount monetary re-p r e p r i n t wards less steeply (Daugherty & Brase, 2010;Joireman et al, 2008;Steinberg et al, 2009) and that they make better healthrelevant choices (e.g., Hall et al, 2015).…”

Section: P R E P R I N Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting farsighted decisions via episodic future thinking: A meta-analysis

Rösch¹,

Stramaccia²

2021

Preprint

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Episodic future thinking (EFT) denotes our capacity to imagine prospective events. It has been suggested to promote farsighted decisions that entail a trade-off between short-term versus long-term gains. Here, we meta-analyze the evidence for the impact of EFT on such intertemporal choices that have monetary or health-relevant consequences. Across 174 effect sizes from 48 articles, a three-level model yielded a medium-sized effect of g = 0.44, 95% CI [0.33, 0.55]. Notably, this analysis included a substantial number of unpublished experiments, and the effect remained stable following further adjustments for remaining publication bias. We exploited the observed heterogeneity to determine critical core components that moderate the impact of EFT. Specifically, the effect was stronger when the imagined events were positive, more vivid, and related to the delayed choice. We further obtained evidence for the contribution of the episodicity and future-orientedness of EFT. Of note, EFT had a greater impact in samples characterized by choice impulsivity (e.g., in obesity), suggesting that EFT can ameliorate maladaptive decision making. Additional analyses indicated that the effect is unlikely to merely reflect demand characteristics. Together, these results highlight the potential of EFT in promoting long-term goals, a finding that extends from the laboratory to real-life decisions.

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Section: P R E P R I N Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting farsighted decisions via episodic future thinking: A meta-analysis

Rösch¹,

Stramaccia²

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The effect of FTP on DD rates has been replicated in two studies and with multiple measures of DD with samples that include smokers and nonsmokers [41,42]. However, smokers consistently discount more than nonsmokers [47].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…In this study, we conceptualized smoking status as a moderator and conducted a moderation analysis to determine whether the relation between the conditions (FTP, NP) and the dependent variable (DD) was moderated by smoking status. This is a secondary data analysis of a study that compared participants randomized to FTP or neutral priming (NP) in a pre/post-test control group design [42]. Participants (n = 1532) were enrolled and completed baseline measures.…”

Section: Study Design and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Episodic future thinking is a framing technique that shows promise for reducing DD rates concurrently with other health behaviors, including cigarette smoking [8,[36][37][38][39][40]. Future thinking priming (FTP) is another framing technique administered remotely that reliably reduces DD rates in large populations [41,42]. Framing techniques have been shown to impact the brain via the activation of neural networks involved in decision-making and prospective thinking, resulting in reductions in DD [43][44][45][46].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study examined whether smoking status moderated the effect of FTP on DD rates and then examined if any differences found could be attributed to rate dependency. This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial in which FTP significantly decreased DD rates in a large sample of participants [42]. Given the evidence for rate dependence, we hypothesized that FTP would have a greater effect on individuals who smoke than those who do not smoke, and that this would be due to a rate-dependent difference in baseline measures of DD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Future Thinking Priming Especially Effective at Modifying Delay Discounting Rates among Cigarette Smokers

Shevorykin

Bickel

Carl

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: Tobacco use remains one of the world’s greatest preventable causes of death and disease. While most smokers want to quit, few are successful, highlighting a need for novel therapeutic approaches to support cessation efforts. Lower delay discounting (DD) rates are associated with increased smoking cessation success. Future thinking priming (FTP) reliably reduces DD rates in large populations. Smokers consistently discount more than nonsmokers, and evidence suggests that changes in DD rates are rate dependent. This study examined whether smoking status moderated the effect of FTP on DD rates and, if so, if the moderation effect could be attributed to differences in baseline rates of DD. Methods: Moderation analysis was conducted to determine whether the effect of FTP, versus neutral priming (NP), on DD differed among smokers and nonsmokers. Results: Smoking status moderated the effect of condition (FTP vs. NP) on post-intervention DD scores (b = −0.2919, p = 0.0124) and DD change scores (b = −0.2975, p = 0.0130). There was no evidence of rate dependence effects in the current sample. Conclusions: FTP had a greater effect on decreasing DD rates among smokers than nonsmokers. FTP is effective and simple to administer, which makes it a promising therapeutic approach for aiding smoking cessation.

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