Addiction Flashcards
BIOLOGICAL MODELS A01:
Genetic model:
Initiation - family/twin studies by McGue 1999 ______________________ and
Kendler et al 2003 (Virginia) _______________________
In specific Noble et al. 1991 linked alcoholism to the ____________________
(specific variant, why linked to addiction)
Disease model:
Initiation (dopamine, pathway) ___________________________
Maintenance (downregulation, change in reinforcement) _____________________
Relapse (cues/dopamine release)
McGue 1999 linked inheritence of addictions in over 50% of cases
Kendler et al 2003 used data from virginia twins and linked their genes to alcohol and drug addictions
Noble et al. 1991 linked the A1 variant of the D2 dopamine receptor to alcohol, because it causes individuals to have fewer dopamine receptors, leading them to partake in more dopamine-inducing addictive behaviour to compensate
Initiation in the disease model is addictive drugs causing dopamine release in the mesolimbic pathway, meaning we remember the reward is linked to the drug
In maintenance, downregulation occurs (we stop getting the same level of dopamine reward response) so there are withdrawal symptoms - this is when the addiction becomes negative not positive reinforcement (avoiding withdrawal) and higher drug levels are needed
In relapse, the brain is still receiving signals related to the drug and cues that remind the user of the drug also cause some of the same dopamine release, thus making it harder not to take it
BIOLOGICAL MODELS A02/3:
How genetics explains individual differences in addiction ________________
Criticism of DRD2 research ________________________
Comings et al. 1991 study into the gene and Tourette’s/autism ____________________
Caine et al. 2007 support for dopamine in addiction (mice study) _________________
Animal research - human replicability? ________________________
Reductionism (other factors?) _____________________________
Because those with shared environments may or may not become addicts so the difference can be explained with genetics
Several studies have failed to link DRD2 and alcholism
Comings et al 1991 linked the A1 variant of this gene to autism and Tourette’s, meaning it may not solely be linked to pleasure/addiction
Caine et al. 2007 found mice only developed a cocaine addiction when they had dopamine receptors - supporting the link to dopamine. However linking this to human responses to drugs may be speculation and the study is not likely to replicate in humans
This approach is biologically reductionist and as such ignores, for instance, social influences and cognitions which equally have an effect on addiction
COGNITIVE MODELS A01:
Self-medication model (Gelkopf et al., 2002):
Initiation ____________________
Maintenance/relapse (e.g. Parrott, 1998 - smoking) ____________________
Expectancy theory:
Initiation (beliefs about costs/benefits)
_______________________
Maintenance/relapse (conscious/unconscious expectations)
_______________________
Rational choice theory:
Initiation (Becker and Murphy 1988)
______________________
Maintenance and relapse (gambling exception - Griffiths’ 1994 fruit machine study) _____________________________
In initiation in the self-medication model of Gelkopf et al. (2002), drugs are taken to treat a psychological problem, so initiation involves choosing the desired drug effect e.g. cannabis to relieve anxiety.
Maintenance/relapse - Parrott (1998) found that smokers believe that smoking relieves stress because it prevents withdrawal, but over time smoking itself increases stress levels.
In expectancy theory, initiation of addiction is due to the individual’s expectations about the costs and benefits involved.
In maintenance, the expectations become less conscious and thus more unconscious, causing the loss of control in addiction.
In Becker and Murphy’s 1988 rational choice theory, addiction is initiated by the individual weighing up the costs and the benefits of the activity.
In maintenance, this model would bot predict that gamblers would maintain that particular behaviour as they will not consistently receive rewards. However Griffiths (1994) conducted a study of fruit machine gamblers and found that the regular gamblers could justify continuing playing due to a cognitive bias - believing they were close to winning.
COGNITIVE MODELS A02/3:
Limitation of self-medication model ____________
Implication for intervention in drug addiction (based on rational choice model)
__________________
Gender differences in alcohol expectations
_________________________
Red/det, numerical data (science)
________________________
It cannot explain addiction where there are no psychological problems.
The rational choice model implies that addiction can be treated by making the costs of drug-taking outweigh the benefits e.g. make them more expensive, harder to get or illegal
Men have stronger positive expectations about alcohol use
Cognitive reductionism (bio factors etc.) and to an extent determinism - not everyone with problems will become addicted.
Lack of numerical data, not supporting psych as sci.
BEHAVIOURAL/LEARNING MODELS A01
Operant conditioning:
Initiation (positive reinforcement, dopamine)
_________________
Maintenance/relapse (negative reinforcement) __________________
Classical conditioning:
Initiation (secondary reinforcers - stimuli, e.g. Glautier et al. 1991)
____________________
Maintenance/relapse (West 2006 - unconditioned/conditioned stimulus/response)
____________________________
Social Learning Theory:
Initiation (self and others) _____________
Maintenance/relapse (positive vs. negative effects) _____________________
With OC, initiation involves positive reinforcers:
dopamine is released in the mesolimbic pathway when drugs are taken, hence why the addiction develops.
After quitting the drug, withdrawal symptoms appear. To prevent this, addicts return to the drug (relapse) as a way of preventing these symptoms (changing from positive to negative reinforcement).
With CC, stimuli which occur alongside the drug act as secondary reinforcers of the behaviour e.g. Glautier et al. (1991) found the sights and sounds of a pub could cause many of the same responses as alcohol itself.
Maintenance with CC due to withdrawal. The drug effect is the unconditioned stimulus, causing the unconditioned response (the body restoring equilibrium) and so conditioned stimuli (like the pub sounds) cause a conditioned response (equilibrium) which is what constitutes withdrawal symptoms. This is what motivates relapse. (West, 2006)
In SLT, initiation involves learning about drug taking and experiencing its effects, both personally and through observing others.
Maintenance and relapse are affected by trying to avoid the perceived costs whilst trying to gain the perceived benefits.
BEHAVIOURAL/LEARNING MODELS A02/3
Support for classical conditioning - Vietnam veterans, heroin ___________________
Drummond et al. (1990) cue exposure treatment ___________________
Red/det ___________________
Studies of Vietnam veterans addicted to heroin show that those who stayed in Vietnam, compared to those who were returning to other countries, were more likely to relapse due to being in the same environment of their initiation.
Drummond et al. (1990) found that when cues were presented to addicts without the opportunity to take the drug, this helped remove the association of that cue.
All these theories suffer behavioural reductionism, and determinism in that they imply that these factors will always cause addiction.
SPECIFIC ADDICTIONS A01 Smoking: Symbolic act \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Physical/Psychological effects of nicotine \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Gambling: Shah et al. (2005) studied gambling in adult men \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Sensation-seeking \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Smoking can be a symbolic act of adulthood or popularity
Nicotine activates receptors in the brain, causing dopamine release. This leads to feelings of pleasure, which are short-term, thus smoking becomes more regular.
Shah et al. (2005) found that male adult gamblers showed evidence of genetic transmission of gambling.
Sensation-seeking is when certain individuals are more likely to look for risky, exciting experiences. This type of personality has been found to be more prone to gambing.
SPECIFIC ADDICTIONS A02/3 Link between nicotine and brain chemistry/mood \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Gender differences in smoking \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Psych as sci \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
The effects of nicotine on brain chemistry have been shown to be linked to mood: depression was higher in smokers than in those who had never smoked.
There are gender differences in how smoking addiction in men and women develops and studies have generally ignored these differences.
Mostly support for psychology as a science, as research has biological basis.
MEDIA AND ADDICTION A01
Sulkunen’s 2007 study of over 40 films representation of addiction _________________________
Gunasekera at al. (2005) found similar results __________________________
Bennett et al. (1991) evaluated television support for alcoholics __________________
UK anti-drug campaign (Pablo)
_____________________________
Sulkunen (2007) studied over 40 films featuring all forms of addiction, which mostly showed drugs positively compared to the dullness of normal life.
Gunasekera et al. (2005) also found many films portraying addiction did so in a positive light, likewise with unsafe sex.
Bennett et al. (1991) compared viewers of a TV guide to alcohol with matched controls. There was no change in attitude or level of alcohol consumption.
An antidrug campaign against cocaine showed a dog used by drug dealers called Pablo talking to users about the negative drug effects.
MEDIA AND ADDICTION A02/3
Boyd’s 2008 research contrary to Sulkunen’s ________________________
Problem with most of the research being corellational ______________________
Ethics in studies, individual differences
____________________________
Boyd (2008) argued films do in fact represent the negative consequences of drugs/alcohol such as physical, criminal and moral issues.
Research simply correlates viewing of addiction in films to addiction in reality - we cannot assume that there is necessarily causation.
Studies such as Bennett’s may cause harm in that they use participants’ addiction as part of the study, without treating them.
There are important individual differences in addiction which may not be accounted for in generalised media representations.
THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR A01 Behavioural control \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Perceived behavioural control \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Behavioural attitude \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Subjective norms \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Intention/behaviour \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR A02/3 Fails to take account of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Behavioural control is the level of conscious control the individual has over their behaviour.
Percieved behavioural control is how much control the individual believes they have.
Behavioural attitude is how positive they think the outcome of having behavioural control will be e.g. believing their life will be better with this form of behaviour.
Subjective norms are what we believe others see as the right thing to do.
Intention is our desire to engage in the behaviour, which in TPB is made up of behavioural attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control.
The TPB fails to account for human emotions
in behaviour - it only focuses on rational aspects of how we act.
INTERVENTIONS A01
Biological:
methadone ______________________
SSRIs for gambling addiction _____________
Psychological:
Reinforcement (Sindelar et al. 2007 study giving money rewards for quitting drugs) _______________________
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy __________________________
Public health interventions:
Quitline services _____________________
Anti-smoking legislation ______________
Methadone is a drug used to treat heroin addiction - it has similar effects but is less addictive, thus easier to stop using.
SSRIs can be used to increase serotonin which reduces gambling addiction.
Sindelar et al. (2007) found addicts trying to quit, who were given monetary rewards for not using, were more successful in reducing drug use than those who did not receive rewards.
CBT can treat addiction by changing the way individuals think about it, and learn to cope with problems which lead to addiction.
The Quitline telephone service ia a public health intervention which has been shown to double the chances of quitting smoking.
INTERVENTIONS A02/3
Problem with methadone ______________
Problem with reinforcement therapy
_______________
Importance of relationship factors in all forms of therapy ____________________
Boos and Croft (2004) study of smoking in military in Iraq _____________________
Methadone is addictive, so former heroin users may simply become addicted to methadone instead of heroin.
Reinforcement usch as that in the Sindelar et al. study does not actually treat the underlying cause of addiction
A positive relationship between therapist and patient may be more important than the specific type of therapy istelf.
Boos and Croft (2004) found that soldiers deployed in Iraq would either increase their smoking habit if they already smoked, or otherwise begin smoking in many cases. This made dealing with nicotine dependance in the military and important area of concern in intervention.
VULNERABILITY FACTORS A01 Stress \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Age \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Peers \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Personality \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Increased stress has been positively correlated with increased vulnerability to addiction - as a maladaptive way of dealing with stress
Early onset of dependency has been linked with reduced probability of abstaining later
Peer pressure can lead to addiction due to normative social influence (trying to gain acceptance/avoid rejection)
Addiction can develop due to the addictive behaviour satisfying needs related to personality types like neuroticism and psychotism.
VULNERABILITY FACTORS A02/3 Kosten et al. (2000) rat study \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Shrum (2008) study of nicotine in adolescents \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Media/society on age \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Animal studies \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Peers-related treatment application (red/hol) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Kosten et al. (2000) found that rats undergoing 1 hour of isolation stress per day had a greater likelihood of administering cocaine
Shrum (2008) found nicotine had a greater effect on adolescents but less withdrawal effects, making adolescent initiation common and subsequent quitting in adulthood unlikely
Addiction in younger people may be exaggerated by stereotypes in from society and/or the media
Animal studies like Kosten’s may lack generalisability to humans
Successful treatment strategies should consider social factors including peer influence in addition to biology/behaviour (holistic)
