A taxonomy of reward processing and associations with problematic alcohol use in young, hazardous drinkers

BackgroundMultiple theories of substance use disorder postulate an imperative role of reward processing in problematic alcohol use. However, it is unknown how different facets of reward processing converge; what underlying latent variables they represent; and how they are associated with alcohol use. MethodsSixty-three young hazardous drinkers completed self-report questionnaire (e.g. anhedonia) and behavioural task reward-related measures in an exploratory, cross-sectional study. Principle component analyses (PCA) were used to explore the underlying structure of the measures. PCA factors were correlated with measures of alcohol use. Computational analyses were employed for a subgroup of the behavioural tasks and extracted parameters correlated with measures of alcohol use.ResultsThe PCAs revealed several distinct facets of reward processing. The factors from the task PCA reflected: reward valuation, frustrative non-reward, reward/punishment bias, loss aversion, consummatory anhedonia & reinforcement learning, and risk aversion. The factors from the questionnaire PCA reflected: apathy/anhedonia, and depression & anxiety. The depression & anxiety factor was negatively associated with number of units consumed (r=-0.28, p=0.026, uncorrected) and reward/punishment bias factor was negatively associated with AUDIT (Alcohol use disorder identification test) score (r=0.30, p=0.016, uncorrected). The reinforcement learning parameter extracted from the bandit task negatively correlated with AUDIT score (r=-0.35, p=0.004, uncorrected).ConclusionsWe provide an empirically based taxonomy of reward processing in young hazardous drinkers, which demonstrates the separable reward-related constructs. Reinforcement learning, reward/punishment bias, and negative affect (depression & anxiety) are all tentatively negatively associated with problematic alcohol use.