Setting a goal could help you control: Comparing the effect of health goal versus general episodic future thinking on health behaviors among cigarette smokers and obese individuals.

Abstract

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) reduces delay discounting (DD; preference for smaller, immediate rewards) and various maladaptive behaviors. Exploring potential personalization of EFT to optimize its ability to alter DD and demand for unhealthy reinforcers is important for the development of interventions targeting long-term improvement and maintenance of health. In this investigation, using 2 separate studies, we examined the effects of EFT with and without a health goal on rates of discounting, demand, and craving for cigarettes and fast food among cigarette smokers and obese individuals, respectively. Using data collected from Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk), Study 1 (N ϭ 189) examined the effect of EFT on DD and measures of cigarette demand and craving in cigarette smokers who were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: EFT-health goal, EFT-general, or Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)general. Study 2 (N ϭ 255), using a 2x2 factorial design, examined the effects of health goals and general EFT on DD and measures of fast food demand and craving in obese individuals who were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: EFT-health goal, EFT-general, ERT-health goal or ERT-general. Health goal EFT was not more effective than general EFT in reducing monetary discounting. However, the addition of a health goal to general EFT was significantly associated with higher effect on intensity and elasticity of demand for cigarettes and fast food compared to EFT without a health goal. These findings suggest that the amplification of future thinking through the inclusion of a health goal may promote healthy decisions and result in positive behavior changes.

Effects of episodic future thinking on reinforcement pathology during smoking cessation treatment among individuals with substance use disorders

“…An important and novel finding of the current study was that EFT also had a significant effect on the four observable indices of drug demand. Previous evidence has partially shown that EFT impacts on breakpoint (Patel and Amlung 2020 ), O max (Voss et al 2021 ), P max (Patel and Amlung 2020 ), and especially on the intensity of demand (Athamneh et al 2021 ; Bulley and Gullo 2017 ; Patel and Amlung 2020 ; Snider et al 2016 ; Stein et al 2018 ; Voss et al 2021 ).…”

“…EFT has shown effects on substance use, such as reduction of tobacco use (Chiou and Wu 2017;Stein et al 2016), and reduction of alcohol use (Voss et al 2021). Additionally, in substance users, EFT has been shown to reduce DD rates (Athamneh et al 2021;Bulley and Gullo 2017;Chiou and Wu 2017;Forster et al 2021;Mellis et al 2019;Patel and Amlung 2020;Snider et al 2016;Sofis et al 2020;Stein et al 2016Stein et al , 2018 and drug demand indices (Athamneh et al 2021;Bulley and Gullo 2017;Patel and Amlung 2020;Snider et al 2016Snider et al , 2018Voss et al 2021).…”

The phenotype of recovery VI: The association between life‐history strategies, delay discounting, and maladaptive health and financial behaviors among individuals in recovery from alcohol use disorders

“…The finding that DD is associated with or can predict remission status is critical as AUD is a relapsing-remitting disorder. Return to alcohol use is common, with an estimated 40% to 60% of individuals with AUDs relapsing or returning to alcohol previous study has shown that the inclusion of health goals into EFT may promote healthy decisions (Athamneh et al, 2020b). This suggests that EFT can be individually tailored to target long-term health and leverage recovery outcomes.…”

Imagining the Future to Reshape the Past: A Path to Combine Cue Extinction and Memory Reconsolidation With Episodic Foresight for Addiction Treatment

“…In light of these advances and seminal findings, several experimental studies and clinical trials investigated the therapeutic effects of EFT on reducing delay discounting and consequent maladaptive behaviors and reported positive health-related outcomes as a result of engaging in EFT in people with alcohol use disorder, overweight, obese and prediabetic individuals, cigarette smokers, cannabis users, and people with cocaine use disorder (55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61). Moreover, EFT training for individuals with addictive behaviors is suggested to improve the efficiency of other psychosocial interventions aiming to attain emotional reappraisal and correction (62).…”