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Behavioral economics is a rapidly developing area of psychological science that has synergistically merged microeconomic concepts with behavioral research methods. A driving force behind the growth of behavioral economics has been its recent application t

AbstractIt is unclear how delay discounting and substance use develop across adolescence and whether contextual factors alter their trajectories. The present study used a longitudinal design to examine whether socioeconomic status is related to developmental trajectories of delay discounting and substance use across adolescence. The sample included 167 adolescents (Mage = 14 at Time 1; 53% male) and their parents who participated annually across four years. Parents reported SES at Time 1 and adolescents completed delay discounting behavioral assessments and substance use questionnaires at Times 1 to 4. Bivariate latent growth curve modeling revealed that low SES was related to steeper increases in substance use from age 14 through 17, mediated through elevated delay discounting at age 14. The findings clarify the mediating role of delay discounting in linking family economic environment to the progression of substance use.

Conventional wisdom once held that the demand for addictive substances like cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs was unlike that for any other economic good and, therefore, unresponsive to traditional market forces. Recently, however, researchers from two disparate fields, economics and behavioral psychology, have found that increases in the overall price of an addictive substance can significantly reduce both the number of users and the amounts those users consume. Changes in the "full price" of addictive substances—including monetary value, time outlay, effort to obtain, and potential penalties for illegal use—yield marked variations in behavioral outcomes and demand. The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse brings these distinctive fields of study together and presents for the first time an integrated assessment of their data and results. Unique and innovative, this multidisciplinary volume will serve as an important resource in the current debates concerning alcohol and drug use and abuse and the impacts of legalizing illicit drugs

Prior research indicates that religiousness is related negatively to adolescent health risk behaviors, yet how such protective effects operate is not well understood. This study examined the longitudinal associations among organizational and personal religiousness, delay discounting, and substance use initiation (alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use). The sample was comprised of 106 early adolescents (10–13 years of age, 52% female) who were not using substances at Time 1. Path analyses suggested that high levels of personal religiousness at Time 1 were related to low levels of substance use at Time 2 (2.4 years later), mediated by low levels of delay discounting. Delay discounting appears to be an important contributor to the protective effect of religiousness on the development of substance use among adolescents.

The evolution of science derives, in part, from the development and use of new methods and techniques. Here, we discuss one development that may have impact on the understanding of tobacco regulatory science: namely, the application of behavioral economics to the complex tobacco marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to review studies that examine conditions impacting the degree to which electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products substitute for conventional cigarettes in the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace (ETM). Collectively, the following factors constitute the current experimental understanding of conditions that will affect ENDS use and substitution for conventional cigarettes: increasing the base price of conventional cigarettes, increasing taxation of conventional cigarettes, subsidizing the price of ENDS products, increasing ENDS nicotine strength, and providing narratives that illustrate the potential health benefits of ENDS consumption in lieu of conventional cigarettes. Each of these factors are likely moderated by consumer characteristics, which include prior ENDS use, ENDS use risk perception, and gender. Overall, the ETM provides a unique method to explore and identify the conditions by which various nicotine products may interact with one another that mimics the real world. In addition, the ETM permits the efficacy of a broad range of potential nicotine policies and regulations to be measured prior to governmental implementation.

The developmental period of adolescence is characterized by increasing incidence of health risk behaviors (HRBs). Based on theoretical models that emphasize the moderating role of cognitive control, this study examined how neural correlates of cognitive control and risk sensitivity interact to predict HRBs among late adolescents (17–20 years). Neuroimaging data indicate that risk‐related hemodynamic activity in the anterior insula during anticipation of uncertain outcomes predicts HRBs among late adolescents exhibiting greater dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activity during a cognitive interference task but not among late adolescents requiring less dACC activity. These results present neural evidence for a significant moderating effect of cognitive control on the link between risk sensitivity and HRBs among late adolescents.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Government regulations of nicotine vaping products (NVP) have evolved rapidly over the past decade. The impact of NVP regulatory environment and vaping on cigarette demand in unknown. The current study aims to investigate whether or not respondents' reported cigarette demand, as measured by a hypothetical cigarette purchase task, varies with 1) smoking status, 2) vaping status, or 3) NVP regulatory environment (country used as proxy). PARTICIPANTS: 10,316 adult smokers. SETTING: Australia (AU), Canada (CA), England (EN), and the Untied States (US). DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey data from Wave 1 of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Smoking and Vaping (4CV) Survey (2016). METHODS: Data for this cross-sectional study were from 10,316 adult smokers who participated in Wave 1 of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Smoking and Vaping (4CV) Survey, which was conducted in 2016 in Australia (AU), Canada (CA), England (EN), and the United States (US). The purchase task asked smokers to estimate how many cigarettes they would purchase for consumption in a single day across multiple cigarette prices. Overall sensitivity of cigarette consumption to price increases was quantified to index cigarette demand elasticity whereas estimated consumption when cigarettes are free was used to index cigarette demand intensity. MEASUREMENTS: A hypothetical purchase task asked smokers to estimate how many cigarettes they would purchase for consumption in a single day across multiple cigarette prices. Responses were used to derive measures of cigarette demand. Overall sensitivity of cigarette consumption to price increases was quantified to index cigarette demand elasticity whereas estimated consumption when cigarettes are free was used to index cigarette demand intensity. RESULTS: A majority of the non-daily smokers had previously smoked daily (72.3%); daily vapers were more likely to be former daily smokers (89.9%) compared to non-daily vapers (70.1%) and non-vapers (69.2%) ...