Early exposure to socioeconomic distress is hypothesized to reinforce decision making that prioritizes immediate, relative to delayed, rewards (i.e., delay discounting); yet these relations have not been examined longitudinal across the vulnerable adolescent period. This study is one of the first to utilize objective and subjective measures to evaluate the relative effects of environmental disadvantage and the potential protective effects of perceived environmental support on delay discounting. A diverse (48.4% White; 46.7% female) sample of participants (N = 246) reported on their home addresses at baseline when they were, on average, 11.96 years old (SD_age = 0.88); Youth then reported perceived environmental supports at baseline and delay discounting annually from ages 13 to 18. A socioeconomic distress index was derived from census tract rates of unemployment, income, educational attainment, and lone parenthood. Greater socioeconomic distress was associated with a greater propensity to discount delayed rewards at baseline. Findings also suggest greater perceived higher environmental support was associated with decreasing rates of delay discounting across adolescence for youth from highly socioeconomically distressed areas. These results highlight potential future avenues for preventative and intervention efforts to improve positive youth outcomes.

假设尽早经历社会经济困境会强化决策，优先考虑即时奖励（相对于延迟奖励）（即延迟折扣）；然而，这些关系尚未在脆弱的青少年时期进行纵向研究。这项研究是第一个利用客观和主观措施来评估环境劣势的相对影响以及感知环境支持对延迟贴现的潜在保护作用的研究之一。不同的参与者样本（48.4% 白人；46.7% 女性）（ N = 246）在基线时报告了他们的家庭住址，当时他们的平均年龄为 11.96 岁（ SD_年龄= 0.88）；然后，青少年在基线上报告感知到的环境支持，并从 13 岁到 18 岁每年延迟折扣。社会经济困境指数是根据人口普查区的失业率、收入、教育程度和单亲身份得出的。更大的社会经济困境与基线时对延迟奖励打折的更大倾向相关。研究结果还表明，对于来自社会经济高度贫困地区的青少年来说，感知到的更高的环境支持与青春期延迟贴现率的降低有关。这些结果凸显了未来预防和干预工作的潜在途径，以改善青年的积极成果。