Relationship between education and delay discounting in smokers

Smokers are less educated and are more likely to discount future rewards than nonsmokers. We assessed the relationship between delay discounting and education level in 77 smokers entering smoking cessation treatment. There was an effect of education on computer task and the questionnaire measures of discounting, with participants having no college discounting delayed rewards significantly (P < .01) more than those attending college. Subjects discounted small rewards more than large rewards for both tasks (P < .001). Results show that education level is inversely associated with discounting in smokers. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.