Alcohol-dependent individuals discount sex at higher rates than controls.

BACKGROUND Research on delay discounting has expanded our understanding of substance dependence in many ways. Recently, orderly discounting of sexual rewards has been demonstrated in both substance-dependent individuals, and healthy controls. Less clear, however, is if rates of sexual discounting are higher than controls in alcohol-dependent-individuals. METHODS 20 alcohol-dependent individuals and 21 healthy control participants completed two delay-discounting tasks. One task involved monetary rewards, whereas the other involved the discounting of sexual rewards (i.e., number of sex acts). RESULTS Alcohol dependent individuals discounted sexual rewards at significantly higher rates than did controls. There was a trend toward, but not a similarly significant relation for the discounting of monetary rewards. CONCLUSIONS Rates of sexual discounting are elevated in alcohol dependent individuals. If this relation is replicated in other at risk populations, the rapid devaluation of sexual rewards may be a laboratory marker of impulsive sexual choices.