IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/medema/v29y2009i2p182-192.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intertemporal Tradeoffs: Perceiving the Risk in the Benefits of Marijuana in a Prospective Study of Adolescents and Young Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Julie H. Goldberg

    (Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, julieg@uic.edu)

  • Susan Millstein

    (Department of Adolescent Medicine, University of California, San Francisco)

  • Alan Schwartz

    (Department of Adolescent Medicine, University of California, San Francisco)

  • Bonnie Halpern-Felsher

    (Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois at Chicago)

Abstract

Purpose . Intertemporal tradeoffs characterize the decision to use drugs: pleasure now traded off against the possibility of pain later. Traditional approaches have examined whether individuals use drugs because they either seek immediate benefit or fail to appreciate long-term risk. We asked whether risk taking might also result from failing to appreciate benefits. We refer to this as risk in the benefits (RIBs), an understanding that one's first drug experience can be so good , that a person may not want (or be able) to stop, putting him/her on a path that leads directly to addiction. Methods . In total, 304 participants, 160 adolescents and 144 young adults, participated in a longitudinal study on marijuana use and other risky health behaviors. Results . The failure to perceive the RIBs of marijuana use led to increased risk taking 1 year later within 3 different health behaviors: alcohol, tobacco, and sexual risk-taking. Greater appreciation of RIBs predicted significantly less future risk taking over-and-above all the traditional cognitive and behavioral predictors, and RIBs were the only significant cognitive predictor when all were included in 1 model. RIBs also partially mediated the relationship between past and future risk taking, over and above the strongest predictors of risk taking. Conclusions . Failing to appreciate the impact of short-term benefits within the context of long-term risk increased future risk taking. Interventions that enhance the salience of RIBs may represent a new approach to reducing the likelihood that individuals will take risks with their health.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie H. Goldberg & Susan Millstein & Alan Schwartz & Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, 2009. "Intertemporal Tradeoffs: Perceiving the Risk in the Benefits of Marijuana in a Prospective Study of Adolescents and Young Adults," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 29(2), pages 182-192, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:29:y:2009:i:2:p:182-192
    DOI: 10.1177/0272989X08323918
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0272989X08323918
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0272989X08323918?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bretteville-Jensen, A.L., 1999. "Addiction and Discounting," Norway; Department of Economics, University of Bergen 198, Department of Economics, University of Bergen.
    2. Bretteville-Jensen, A. L., 1999. "Addiction and discounting1," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 393-407, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lurås, Hilde, 2009. "A healthy lifestyle: The product of opportunities and preferences," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2001:11, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    2. Anne Bretteville-Jensen, 2006. "Drug Demand – Initiation, Continuation and Quitting," De Economist, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 491-516, December.
    3. Jofre-Bonet, Mireia & Petry, Nancy M., 2008. "Trading apples for oranges?: Results of an experiment on the effects of Heroin and Cocaine price changes on addicts' polydrug use," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 281-311, May.
    4. Lippai, László, 2009. "Az intertemporális diszkontálási folyamatok jelentősége a fogyasztói döntésekben [The importance of inter-temporal discounting processes to consumer decision-making]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 689-708.
    5. Vicki L. Bogan & Angela R. Fertig, 2013. "Portfolio Choice and Mental Health," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(3), pages 955-992.
    6. Cairns, John, 2006. "Developments in discounting: With special reference to future health events," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 282-297, August.
    7. Ignacio Munyo, 2015. "The Juvenile Crime Dilemma," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(2), pages 201-211, April.
    8. Richards, Timothy J. & Hamilton, Stephen F., 2012. "Obesity and Hyperbolic Discounting: An Experimental Analysis," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(2), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Finke, Michael S. & Huston, Sandra J., 2013. "Time preference and the importance of saving for retirement," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 23-34.
    10. Strulik, Holger, 2018. "Smoking kills: An economic theory of addiction, health deficit accumulation, and longevity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1-12.
    11. Dahal, Arati & Fertig, Angela, 2013. "An econometric assessment of the effect of mental illness on household spending behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 18-33.
    12. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3033 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Blondel, Serge & Loheac, Youenn & Rinaudo, Stephane, 2007. "Rationality and drug use: An experimental approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 643-658, May.
    14. Timothy J. Richards & Paul M. Patterson & Abebayehu Tegene, 2007. "Obesity And Nutrient Consumption: A Rational Addiction?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(3), pages 309-324, July.
    15. Booij, Adam S. & van Praag, Bernard M.S., 2009. "A simultaneous approach to the estimation of risk aversion and the subjective time discount rate," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(1-2), pages 374-388, May.
    16. Michelle S. Goeree, 2009. "Caught in the Bulimic Trap: Do Eating Disorders Reflect Addictive Behavior?," 2009 Meeting Papers 241, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    17. Lippai, László, 2010. "Fogyasztói önkontrollt igénylő döntések empirikus vizsgálata [An empirical examination of consumer decisions requiring self-control]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 700-714.
    18. Sophie Massin, 2011. "La notion d'addiction en économie : La théorie du choix rationnel à l'épreuve," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 121(5), pages 713-750.
    19. Been-Lon Chen & Yu-Shan Hsu & Chia-Hui Lu, 2011. "Friedman meets Becker and Mulligan in a monetary neoclassical growth model," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 99-126, October.
    20. Grignon, Michel, 2009. "An empirical investigation of heterogeneity in time preferences and smoking behaviors," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 739-751, October.
    21. de La Bruslerie, Hubert & Pratlong, Florent, 2012. "La valeur psychologique du temps : une synthèse de la littérature," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 88(3), pages 361-400, Septembre.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:29:y:2009:i:2:p:182-192. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.