Addiction: Risk Factors Flashcards
What is a risk factor?
Anything internal or external that increases the likelihood of an individual starting to use durgs or engage in addictive behaviour
What are the different types of risk factors?
Genetic Vulnerability
Stress
Personality
Family Influences
Peers
What is genetic vulnerability?
The possibilty that we may inherit a predisposition/vulenrability that increases the risl of this disorder.
It can explain why some individuals become dependent and others don’t
What are the two reasons genetic vulnerability can occur?
D2 Receptor
Metabolism
What is the D2 receptor?
D2 receptor is responsible for communicating with Dopamine, the number of D2 receptors an individual has is determined by genetics
What will happen if a person has fewer D2 receptors?
Having fewer D2 receptors is associated with addiction
What does having fewer D2 receptors lead to?
Problems with experiencing pleasure from everyday activities e.g., chocolate.
If a person has fewer D2 receptors what will they turn to?
More addictive substances like nicotine to experience the same feeling of pleasure and compensate for this deficiency
How does metabolism link to addiction?
Some people are able to metabolise certain addcitive subsatnces a lot faster than others, making it easier for them to become addicted as they may need more to have the same effects
How to explain a person’s metabolism?
It is inherited through genes
What is an example of metabolism research?
Pianezza
What did Pianezza find?
Some people lack a fully functioning enzyme which metabolises nicotine, so less likely to smoke than those with fully functioning version.
Correlational research for all
P - Based on correlational research
E - Cause an effect can’t be established, research shown a link between risk factors such as (state risk factor) and addiction
E - But it doesn’t show which came first
L - Lacks internal validity as it doesn’t allow us to conclude these factors do make people more at risk of addiction
Genetic vulnerability AO3 - Who researched genetic vulnerability?
P - Kendler et al using data from National Swedish Adoption Study
Genetic Vulnerability AO3 - What did Kendler look at?
E - Adults who ahd been adopted as children from biological families in which at least one person had an addiction
Genetic vulnerability AO3 - What did Kendler find?
E - That the children later had a significantly greater risk of developing an addiction themselves, compared to adopeted individuals with no addicted parent in their bioloigical families
Genetic Vulnerability AO3 - What is the link?
L - Gives validity to genetic vulnerability as a risk factor in addiction, shows addiction vulnerability can be inherited through genes.
What is stress?
Where an individual experiences a state of arousal that occurs when they beleive they don’t have the ability to cope with the perceived threat
If someone experiences stress what are they likely to do?
Turn to addictives substances orr behaviours as a from of self-medication for stress
With stress what has been linked to increased risk of developing an addiction?
Periods of chronic, long lasting stress and traumatic life events in childhood
Who researched stress?
Anderson and Teicher
What did Anderson and Teicher find?
Early experiences of severe stress have damaging effects on a young brain in a sensitive period of development, can create a vulnerability to later stress.
What can futher stressful experiences lead to?
Triggering the vulnerability and make it more likely for a person to self-medicate
What is the stress AO3?
Correlational stress
