Bernhardt N, et al. – This study contemplated the impulsive decision making in young adult social drinkers and detoxified alcohol–dependent individuals. It was observed that all four domains of impulsive decision making were significantly altered in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients. However, these were mostly not associated with alcohol use in young–adult social drinkers. Such facets of impulsive behavior could develop as consequences of chronic alcohol consumption. Disregarding of probabilistic losses could be valuable in determining the patients vulnerable for relapse.

Methods

• 2 studies extracted the behavioral data on choice impulsivity with a value-based decision-making battery yielding estimates of delay discounting, probability discounting for gains and losses, and loss aversion.
• Study 1 included 198 male 18-year-old social drinkers.
• The impulsive choice behavior and its relation to alcohol consumption and self-report measures of substance use related personality traits were gauged on a cross-sectional level.
• It also examined the predictive value of baseline choice behavior for the trajectories of alcohol consumption over a 12-month follow-up period.
• For study 2, the behavioral data on choice impulsivity was obtained for 114 detoxified patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and 98 control members.
• Group variations were inspected at baseline and the predictive value of choice impulsivity for relapse to heavy alcohol use was analyzed in patients during a follow-up period of 48 weeks.

Results

• Study 1) Only delay discounting correlated with baseline alcohol use, but no estimate of choice impulsivity speculated the drinking trajectories over the following 12 months.
• Study 2) Compared to the control group, AUD patients demonstrated higher delay discounting, lower risk aversion regarding probabilistic gains, lower risk seeking regarding probabilistic losses, and lower loss aversion facing mixed prospects.
• Shallow discounting of probabilistic losses at baseline was found to be speculative for relapse in patients.