Addiction

Question 1

Addiction

Answer 1

A disorder in which an individual takes a substance or engages in behaviour that is pleasurable but eventually becomes harmful and leads to a dependence on them.

Question 2

Physical Dependence

Answer 2

A state of the body due to habitual substance abuse which results in a withdrawal syndrome when use of the drug is reduced or stopped.

Question 3

Psychological Dependence

Answer 3

A compulsion to continue taking a substance (or continue performing a behaviour) because its use is rewarding.

Question 4

Tolerance

Answer 4

A reduction in response to a substance, so that an addicted individual needs more to get the same effect.

Question 5

Withdrawal syndrome

Answer 5

A set of symptoms that develop when an addicted person abstains from or reduces their substance abuse.

Question 6

Risk factors

Answer 6

Any internal or external influence that increases the likelihood a person will start using addictive substances or engage in addictive behaviours.

Question 7

The 5 Risk Factors

Answer 7

Genetic Vulnerability
Stress
Personality
Family Influences
Peers

Question 8

Genetic vulnerability

Answer 8

Any inherited predisposition that increases the risk of a disorder or condition

Question 9

Stress

Answer 9

Stressful life events and traumatic experiences in childhood and adulthood are important risk factors for addiction

Question 10

Personality

Answer 10

Various traits can increase an individual’s risk of addiction a significant one impulsivity

Question 11

Family influences

Answer 11

How much the at-risk individual believes his or her approval of addictive substances or behaviours is an influential risk factor along with others involving family relationships.

Question 12

Peers

Answer 12

The attitudes of peers towards addictive substances/behaviours becomes highly influential in increasing the risk of an addiction developing in adolescence

Question 13

Andersen and Teicher (2008)

Answer 13

Highlight the role of adverse childhood experiences in later addiction. They argue that early experiences of severe stress have damaging effects on a young brain in a sensitive period of development. Stressful experiences in adolescence and adulthood trigger the early vulnerability and makes it more likely someone will self medicate.

Question 14

Robins (1998)

Answer 14

Argues that APD is a causal risk factor for addiction as they break social norms and are impulsive and may behave criminally. Meaning very likely they will try drugs when young and more likely to develop an addiction.

Question 15

Livingston et al(2010)

Answer 15

found that final year high school students who were allowed by their parents to drink alcohol at home were more likely to drink excessively the following year at college. Adolescents who believe that their parents do not care about their behaviours are more likely to have an addiction.

Question 16

O’connell et al (2009)

Answer 16

suggest that there are three major elements to peer influence as a risk factor for alcohol. Adolescents who are at risk are more likely to associate alcohol with peers and their drinking norms. The experienced peers give the opportunity to use alcohol and the peer overestimates how much is drunk and copies.

Question 17

D2 receptor

Answer 17

Dopamine transmission is affected by the number of dopamine receptors you have and this number is genetically controlled. There are different types of dopamine receptors. People who are addicted have abnormally low number of D2 receptors

Question 18

Nicotine enzyme (CYP2A6)

Answer 18

Some people can metabolise certain substances better and this is linked to addiction. Pianezza et al found some people lack fully functioning enzyme which metabolites nicotine and smoke significantly less than smokers with fully functioning versions.

Question 19

Petry (2002)

Answer 19

there is no such thing as a generally addictive personality but but it can be linked to disordered personality. most people with antisocial personality disorder are also linked to addicted substance users.

Question 20

Genetic vulnerability support

Answer 20

Support from adoption studies Kendler sound that people who were adopted at a young age when their biological parent had an addiction still had a higher level of vulnerability of getting addicted.

Question 21

stress limitation

Answer 21

One issue is the causation studies has shown that there is a strong positive correlation between stress and addiction but it does not make it a risk factor. As more stress can be caused from addiction.

Question 22

Personality Support

Answer 22

One strength of personality as a risk factor for addiction is support for the link between addiction and APD.
Several studies show that APD and alcohol dependence are co-morbid. But is APD a causal factor? Miriam Bahlmann et al. (2002) interviewed 55 alcohol-dependent people of which 18 were also diagnosed with APD. For these 18 participants, the researchers found that APD developed four years before their alcohol dependency, on average.

Question 23

Family Influences support as a risk factor

Answer 23

Bertha Madras et al. (2019) found a strong positive correlation between parents’ use of cannabis and their adolescent children’s use of cannabis, nicotine, alcohol and opioids. It may be that adolescents observe their parents using a specific drug and model this behaviour.

Question 24

Peers support in the real world

Answer 24

Social norms marketing advertising is an intervention to change mistaken beliefs about how much peers are drinking. It uses mass media advertising to provide messages and statistics about how much people really drink. For example, beer mats, posters and leaflets in a Student Union bar might carry messages such as ‘Students overestimate what others drink by 44%.

Question 25

Neurochemistry

Answer 25

relating to chemicals in the brain that regulate biological and psychological functioning.

Question 26

Dopamine

Answer 26

A neurotransmitter that generally has an excitatory effect and is associated with the sensation of pleasure. Unusually high levels are associated with schizophrenia and unusually low levels are associated with Parkinson’s disease.