Daily assessments of behavioral economic indices and drinking among rural‐residing adults with at‐risk drinking

Source: PubMed Central Open Access, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine

Abstract In a secondary analysis among adults with at‐risk drinking who live in rural areas (= 75; 62.7% Female; 98.7% White), we examined the predictive ability of behavioral economic (BE) indices (demand, delay discounting, and proportion of alcohol‐free activities) for next‐day alcohol use via daily surveys across the range of alcohol use severity. These relations were tested using linear mixed‐effects models, including evaluating the interaction of BE indices with alcohol use severity. In unadjusted analyses, proportion of alcohol‐free activities (β [95% CI]: −0.022 [−0.038, −0.006]), demand intensity (i.e., drinks when free; β [95% CI]: 0.267 [0.143, 0.391]), and maximum expenditure (, β [95% CI]: 0.036 [0.014, 0.059]) were significant predictors of next‐day alcoholic drinks consumed. In adjusted analyses, we observed a significant interaction between baseline alcohol use severity and intensity of alcohol demand (β [95% CI]: −0.014 [−0.027, −0.001]) and(β [95% CI]: 0.005 [0.000, 0.010]) wherein there was a stronger relations between the BE measure and next‐day drinking among lower and higher alcohol use severities, respectively. These results support the inclusion of BE measures in daily survey research to support digital and potentially just‐in‐time adaptive interventions.