EXAMINING DELAY DISCOUNTING AND E-CIGARETTE ASSOCIATIONS AMONG YOUNG ADULTS

Background: Delay discounting (DD), the tendency to value smaller immediate rewards over delayed larger rewards, has been shown to be associated with a variety of smoking-related behaviors (e.g., initiation, dependence, intention to quit, relapse). Conventional cigarette (CC) use has declined in recent decades; however, electronic cigarette (EC) use has risen particularly among young adults and has important public health implications. There are a limited number of studies examining DD in relation to EC use or comparing it to other modes of tobacco use (i.e., EC vs. CC), and existing findings are mixed.

Methods: The aims of this paper are to review the emerging literature on DD in relation to EC vaping, and conduct a secondary analysis from a scale development study that examined EC pros and cons, use, and motivations in a web-based sample of young adults (N = 980; M age = 24.2 years; range = 18-30). Discounting of delayed hypothetical monetary rewards was also assessed with the 5-Trial Adjusting Delay Discounting Task (5-TADDT). Individuals with different EC use histories were compared (i.e., EC vapers [n = 124], CC smokers [n = 61], dual users [n = 206], non-users [n = 589]).

Results: Controlling for age, steeper discounting (indicating greater impulsivity) was observed among past 30-day and frequent users compared to no past 30-day use and occasional use among both CC smokers and EC vapers, although once controlling for age the effect was not significant for past 30-day CC smoking. Further analyses revealed that non-users and EC vapers had shallower DD compared to both CC smokers (p = .003 & .002, respectively) and dual users (p = .015 & .014, respectively). However, these comparisons were no longer significant when controlling for age. Steeper discounting was significantly associated with greater likelihood of using both CCs and ECs as well as greater positive EC outcome expectancies and EC nicotine dependence among the non-users. Moreover, steeper discounting was related to the overall Nicotine Vaping Decisional Balance (NVDB) score (pros minus cons) for each group except for CC smokers.

Conclusions: While greater EC and CC use appear to be associated with steeper discounting, differences comparing tobacco product use status remain unclear. However, DD may be useful for predicting EC-susceptible non-users as well as serving as a behavioral marker of EC-related beliefs (outcome expectancies) and motivational values (decisional balance). Therefore, future work should continue to explore differences in DD between tobacco products to clarify the relationship between DD and EC use measures.