The Effect of Financial Scarcity on Reinforcer Pathology: A Dyadic Developmental Examination

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of experimentally manipulated scarcity on the reinforcing value of food (RRVfood) and delay discounting (DD), which together create reinforcer pathology (RP), among parents and offspring from two age groups and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. A stratified sample of 106 families (53 parent/child aged 7–10 dyads & 53 parent/adolescent aged 15–17 dyads), from high- and low-income households, visited our laboratory for three separate appointments. Each appointment included the experimental manipulation of acute scarcity, operationalized as financial gains and losses, and computer-based DD and RRV tasks. The results showed that regardless of food insecurity or acute scarcity, children had greater RP (β = 1.63, p < .001) than adolescents or parents, who were similar to one another. DD was largely unaffected by acute scarcity in any group, but families with food insecurity had greater DD (β = -0.09, p = .002) compared with food secure families. Food insecure parents with children responded to financial losses with an increase in RRVfood (β = -0.03, p = 0.011), while food secure parents and food insecure parents of adolescents did not significantly change their responding based on the financial losses. This study replicates findings that financial losses increase the RRVfood among adults with food insecurity and extends this literature by suggesting that this is strongest for parents of children. This relationship was not present in the offspring. This study suggests that parents of children reporting food insecurity will be the most at risk for increased caloric consumption.