Episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting and energy intake in children

Abstract

Discounting of larger future rewards in favor of smaller immediate rewards is known as delay discounting. High delay discounting or a bias towards immediate gratification impedes self-regulation and is associated with maladaptive eating behaviors. Children in general show greater delay discounting than adults. Obese children in particular, have greater difficulty delaying gratification for edible rewards. Episodic future thinking (EFT) which is mental self-projection to pre-experience future events reduces delay discounting and reduces energy intake in overweight/obese adults. However, these EFT effects have not been examined in children. We evaluated the effects of EFT versus control episodic recent thinking (ERT) on delay discounting and ad libitum energy intake while thinking about episodic cues in 42 overweight/obese 9 to 14year olds. Results showed that EFT led to less delay discounting and lowered energy intake, and EFT had the greatest effect on reducing energy intake in children with a higher desire to restrict food intake. This suggests that EFT may be useful in pediatric obesity treatment programs to help children regulate energy intake.

Episodic Future Thinking: Expansion of the Temporal Window in Individuals with Alcohol Dependence

“…Excessive discounting of delayed rewards is posited as a trans-disease process in which many different types of behavioral maladies, including overeating and drug addiction, exhibit excessive undervaluation of future rewards (Bickel et al, 2012b). Importantly, EFT decreased delay discounting in overweight and obese adults as well as 9- to 14-year-old obese adolescents (Daniel et al, 2013a,b, 2015), consistent with our results in alcohol-dependent individuals. Our results also revealed a decrease in initial consumption in hypothetical alcoholic drinks during a purchase task following EFT.…”

“…In the present study, when alcoholic drinks were free or at very low cost, EFT participants purchased less than the control group. These data are again consistent with data from Daniel and colleagues (2013b, 2015) in which EFT decreased caloric intake in overweight adults and 9- to 14-year-old obese adolescents when given free access to highly palatable foods. These data, in combination, suggest that EFT disrupts excessive discounting of delayed rewards, overvaluation of immediate rewards, and supports the hypothesis that EFT may hold future implications for manipulating valuation of future rewards in multiple therapeutic arenas.…”

Bleak Present, Bright Future: Online Episodic Future Thinking, Scarcity, Delay Discounting, and Food Demand

“…EFT participants generated episodic future events similar to those used in previous EFT study procedures (Daniel & Epstein, 2013; Daniel et al, 2015; Daniel et al, 2013). Participants in the EFT condition generated personalized future events that they were looking forward to and could vividly imagine for three different future time periods.…”

Does goal relevant episodic future thinking amplify the effect on delay discounting?

“…One way to shift temporal perspective so that people are more likely to choose a larger, but delayed reward, is to engage in episodic future thinking (EFT) (Daniel, Said, Stanton, & Epstein, 2015; Daniel, Stanton, & Epstein, 2013a, 2013b; Lin & Epstein, 2014; Peters & Buchel, 2010). EFT is a skill that allows us to use mental simulation to place ourselves in the future and pre-experience an event (Atance & O'Neill, 2001).…”

“…Research has shown EFT effectively reduces DD in individuals that are typically high in DD (Daniel et al, 2013a), and that EFT reduces excessive energy intake in obese adults and children as well (Daniel et al, 2015; Daniel et al, 2013b). In these experiments, personalized audio EFT cues that were played during an ad libitum eating task significantly reduced the amount of calories consumed by subjects compared to episodic thinking control conditions.…”