Behavioral economics offers unique tools for assessing value and motivation associated with college drinking. Tasks that model changes in consumption as a function of price (operant demand) or the decline in an outcome’s subjective value as a function of time-to-occurrence (delay discounting) provide valuable information that may efficiently supplement clinical screening instruments when characterizing alcohol use severity. The first aim of this investigation was to examine the extent to which at-risk drinking, operant demand for alcohol, and single- and cross-commodity discounting of money and alcohol predict adverse consequences of past-month drinking in underage college women (N = 72). The second aim was to determine whether these clinical and behavioral economic measures could significantly predict the odds of past-month drunk driving, a serious public health concern due to the increasing prevalence of heavy episodic drinking among women in their first 1 – 2 years of college. Results showed that higher scores on the consumption factor of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-C), higher Persistence (consumption amidst constraint) and Amplitude (maximum consumption) of demand, as well as lower rates of discounting for choices between alcohol now or double the amount after a delay (choosing the larger amount of alcohol even when it is delayed) significantly predicted adverse consequences of past-month drinking. Moreover, higher scores on the AUDIT-C, higher Amplitude of demand, and greater discounting for choices between alcohol now and money later (choosing immediately available alcohol at the expense of double the equivalent in delayed money) significantly predicted past-month drunk driving. We contend that operant demand along with single- and cross-commodity discounting can be viewed as intersecting measures of reinforcer value with clinical relevance to college women.

行为经济学提供了独特的工具来评估与大学饮酒相关的价值和动机。将消费变化建模为价格函数（操作性需求）或结果的主观价值下降作为发生时间函数（延迟贴现）的任务提供了有价值的信息，可以在描述酒精使用时有效地补充临床筛查工具严重性。这项调查的首要目的是检查风险饮酒、对酒精的操作性需求以及金钱和酒精的单一和交叉商品折扣在多大程度上预测未成年女大学生过去一个月饮酒的不良后果（N = 72). 第二个目的是确定这些临床和行为经济措施是否可以显着预测过去一个月酒后驾车的几率，这是一个严重的公共健康问题，因为女性在大学头 1-2 年期间酗酒的情况越来越普遍. 结果显示，酒精使用障碍识别测试 (AUDIT-C) 的消费因素得分较高，需求的持久性（约束中的消费）和振幅（最大消费）以及现在酒精之间选择的折扣率较低或延迟后加倍饮酒（即使延迟也选择较大量的酒精）显着预测了过去一个月饮酒的不良后果。此外，AUDIT-C 得分越高，需求幅度越大，现在酒精和以后金钱之间的选择有更大的折扣（选择立即可用的酒精，而延迟金钱的两倍等价物）显着预测了过去一个月的酒后驾车。我们认为，操作性需求以及单一和跨商品折扣可以被视为强化物价值与大学女性临床相关性的交叉衡量标准。