Open Collections

Measurement of forecasted, experienced, and remembered affect in a substance use context

University of British Columbia

Individuals often overestimate the intensity and duration of the happiness they will feel after experiencing a positive event, such as receiving tenure. However, few studies have examined whether individuals will make affective forecasting errors in the context of alcohol and cannabis use. In the current study, we examined whether university students would make affective forecasting errors in a substance use context using experience sampling methodology. A sample of n = 46 university students made predictions about the intensity and duration of five emotions (happiness, relaxation, fun, sexiness, and excitement) that they may experience when using alcohol or cannabis, as well as completing a set of additional questionnaires regarding their substance use cognitions. When using alcohol or cannabis during the weekend, participants received questionnaires asking how intensely they were experiencing each of the five emotions. They were also asked the same questions one day after consuming and one week after. Growth curve models and Analyses of Variance demonstrated that while intensity emotions varied significantly over time, participants only overestimated how relaxed they would feel [F(1, 2.11) = 3.46, p < 0.05] and how much fun they would have consuming substances [F(1, 1) = 4.30, p = 0.05]. In conclusion, preliminary results demonstrate that individuals make relatively few affective forecasting errors in a substance use context, as opposed to other contexts in which such errors have previously been studied, although some errors do occur with particular emotions. Such findings may fit into the puzzle of explaining why maladaptive substance use habits continue despite seemingly negative consequences, such as hangovers.

Text

2019-09-11

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/71660

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/