Risk factors in the Development of addiction

Why are some people more venerable to addiction than others?

Stress

Why are some people more venerable to addiction than others? Peers

Why are some people more venerable to addiction than others? Age

Why are some people more venerable to addiction than others? Personality

Stress (The big ideas) Addictions such as smoking and drinking are thought to act as coping mechanisms for stress. People that have suffered a very stressful situation or long term daily stress are more vulnerable to addiction, especially young people.

Stress (The Evidence) People report that they use drugs or gamble to deal with everyday stress. Such stress may affect the initiation, continuation, and relapse addictions (NIDA, 1999).

Stress (The Evidence) Hajeck et al. (2010) found that despite the fact that smokers say that they smoke to relieve stress, it actually increases it. However, once addicted, smoking may be stress reducing because it relieves stress associated with cravings.

Stress (The Evidence) Driessen et al. (2008) found that 30% of drug addicts and 15% of alcoholics suffer from PTSD. So, there is evidence that people are exposed to severe stress are more vulnerable to addictions.

Stress (Evaluation) There is a lot of supporting research (+). However the research is correlational (-). Individual differences – Stress may explain vulnerability for some, but not for all. “There are two types of alcoholics” (Cloniger, 1987)

Stress (Evaluation) “Bad science” – The so called “Canadian Study”

Peers (The Big Ideas) Research suggests that young people are influenced by peers and this influence is thought to play a role in addiction (See text for evidence related to smoking).

Peers (More Evidence) DiBlasio and Bersha (1993) found that peer pressure influences were the primary influence for adolescents who started smoking Sussman and Ames (2001) found that friend and peer use of drugs is a strong predictor of drug use among teenagers due to role modelling and being offered drugs by their peer group, demonstrating the influence of social networks in determining levels of vulnerability.

Peers (The Big Ideas) Social Learning Theory And Social Identity Theory. What is the idea here?

Peers (The Big Ideas) Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1997) – behaviours are learned through observation and modelling. Youth are most likely to imitate the people they spend the most time with. Social Identity Theory (Abrams and Hogg, 1990). Assumes that group members adopt the norms that are associated with their group. A group of ‘smokers’ are likely to have the same smoking habits if that habit is central to the group’s identity.

Peers (Evaluation) A lot of research supports the importance of SLT in explaining addiction. However, most of the research is correlational. The study by Sussman and Ames (2001) appears to show that peer groups cause smoking, but it was also found that family influences had an effect on addiction too. This highlights that peer pressure is just one factor that affects addiction. People may also group because they like the same things. A person’s behaviour may not be the result of being in a particular groups. Addictive behaviours may be common in peer groups if people came together because of these similarities.

Peers (evaluation) What does the text say about social identity theory?

Age (The Big ideas) The power of peers appears to decline in late adolescence. With time, the influence of close friends and romantic partners plays a greater role. Some people suggested that youth are prone to addiction due to the immaturity of their brain. It is believed that youth are more sensitive to the positive effects of drugs than older people. They also experience fewer negative effects from drugs than adults, which helps to maintain their addiction.

Age (The Evidence) A report by the NHS found that 67% of regular smokers started before the age of 18 and 84% by the age of 19. Shram (2008) found that adolescent rats were more sensitive to the rewarding effects of nicotine and less sensitive to it’s negative effects compared to adult rats.

Personality (The Big idea) It is believed that people who possess certain personality characteristics are more prone to addiction.

Personality (The big ideas) Eysenck (1967) proposed a biologically based theory of personality on 3 dimensions. Extroversion-introversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.

Personality (The big ideas) Cloniger (1967) proposed 3 personality traits that predispose people to addiction. Novelty Seeking, Harm avoidance, and Reward Dependence.

Personality (Some Evidence) Francis (1996) that people with high scores on neuroticism and psychoticism are more likely to be addicts.

Personality (Evaluation – Activity) CAUSALITY EVIDENCE FOR PERSONALITY AS A CAUSE IMPULSIVITY RATHER THAN SENSATION SEEKING ROLE OF THE DOPAMINE SYSTEM PERSONALITY AND MOBILE PHONE ADDICTION

In addition to these slides refer to: Your text! And affecting-2013