Delay Discounting Is Associated with Multiple Psychiatric Disorders

Discounting a larger reward in the future in favor of a smaller one in the present, known as delay discounting, is a feature of substance use disorders whereby individuals continue to seek the brief reward of the substance while ignoring the long-term, more global benefit of abstinence (NEJM JW Psychiatry May 2011 and Biol Psychiatry 2011; 69:260).

To determine whether this feature is associated with other psychiatric disorders, Canadian investigators conducted a meta-analysis of 43 studies that compared monetary delay discounting between individuals with disorders and controls.

Delay discounting was significantly greater in individuals with psychiatric disorders, compared with controls, including those with major depressive disorder, schizop…