TY - JOUR
T1 - The associations between posttraumatic stress disorder and delay discounting, future orientation, and reward availability
T2 - A behavioral economic model
AU - for the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD
AU - Olin, Cecilia C.
AU - McDevitt-Murphy, Meghan E.
AU - Murphy, James G.
AU - Zakarian, Rebecca J.
AU - Roache, John D.
AU - Young-McCaughan, Stacey
AU - Litz, Brett T.
AU - Keane, Terence M.
AU - Peterson, Alan L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - The theoretical framework of behavioral economics, a metatheory that integrates operant learning and economic theory, has only recently been applied to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A behavioral economic theory of PTSD reflects an expansion of prior behavioral conceptualization of PTSD, which described PTSD in terms of respondent and operant conditioning. In the behavioral economic framework of PTSD, negatively reinforced avoidance behavior is overvalued, in part due to deficits in environmental reward, and may be conceptualized as a form of reinforcer pathology (i.e., excessive preference for and valuation of an immediate reinforcer). We investigated cross-sectional relationships between PTSD severity and several constructs rooted in this behavioral economic framework, including future orientation, reward availability, and delay discounting in a sample of 110 military personnel/veterans (87.2% male) who had served combat deployments following September 11, 2001. Total PTSD severity was inversely related to environmental reward availability, β = −.49, ΔR2 = 0.24, p <.001; hedonic reward availability, β = −.32, ΔR2 = 0.10, p =.001; and future orientation, β = −.20, ΔR2 = 0.04, p =.032, but not delay discounting, r = −.05, p =.633. An examination of individual symptom clusters did not suggest that avoidance symptoms were uniquely associated with these behavioral economic constructs. The findings offer support for a behavioral economic model of PTSD in which there is a lack of positive reinforcement as well as a myopic focus on the present.
AB - The theoretical framework of behavioral economics, a metatheory that integrates operant learning and economic theory, has only recently been applied to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A behavioral economic theory of PTSD reflects an expansion of prior behavioral conceptualization of PTSD, which described PTSD in terms of respondent and operant conditioning. In the behavioral economic framework of PTSD, negatively reinforced avoidance behavior is overvalued, in part due to deficits in environmental reward, and may be conceptualized as a form of reinforcer pathology (i.e., excessive preference for and valuation of an immediate reinforcer). We investigated cross-sectional relationships between PTSD severity and several constructs rooted in this behavioral economic framework, including future orientation, reward availability, and delay discounting in a sample of 110 military personnel/veterans (87.2% male) who had served combat deployments following September 11, 2001. Total PTSD severity was inversely related to environmental reward availability, β = −.49, ΔR2 = 0.24, p <.001; hedonic reward availability, β = −.32, ΔR2 = 0.10, p =.001; and future orientation, β = −.20, ΔR2 = 0.04, p =.032, but not delay discounting, r = −.05, p =.633. An examination of individual symptom clusters did not suggest that avoidance symptoms were uniquely associated with these behavioral economic constructs. The findings offer support for a behavioral economic model of PTSD in which there is a lack of positive reinforcement as well as a myopic focus on the present.
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U2 - 10.1002/jts.22820
DO - 10.1002/jts.22820
M3 - Article
C2 - 35437823
AN - SCOPUS:85128432772
SN - 0894-9867
VL - 35
SP - 1252
EP - 1262
JO - Journal of Traumatic Stress
JF - Journal of Traumatic Stress
IS - 4
ER -