Delay Discounting and Family History of Psychopathology in Children Ages 9-11: Results from the ABCD Study

Delay discounting is a tendency to devalue delayed rewards compared to immediate rewards. Evidence suggests that steeper delay discounting is associated with psychiatric disorders across diagnostic categories, but it is unclear whether steeper delay discounting is a risk factor for these disorders. We examined whether children at higher risk for psychiatric disorders, based on family history, would demonstrate steeper delay discounting behavior. We examined the relationship between delay discounting behavior and family history of psychopathology using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a nationally representative sample of 11,878 children. Participants completed the delay discounting task between the ages of 9 and 11. We computed Spearmans correlations between family pattern density of psychiatric disorders and delay discounting behavior. We conducted mixed effects models to examine associations between family pattern density of psychiatric disorders and delay discounting while accounting for sociodemographic factors. Correlations between family history of psychopathology and delay discounting behavior were small, ranging from {rho} = -0.02 to 0.04. In mixed effects models, family history of psychopathology was not associated with steeper delay discounting behavior. Sociodemographic factors played a larger role in predicting delay discounting behavior than family history of psychopathology. Race, ethnicity, sex, parental education, and marital status were all significantly associated with delay discounting behavior. These results do not support the hypothesis that children with greater risk for psychopathology display steeper delay discounting behavior. Sociodemographic factors play a larger role in determining delay discounting behavior in this age group.