Addiction : Risk Factors Flashcards
Outline Genetic Vulnerability.
- A genetic vulnerability for addiction refers to any inherited predisposition that makes a person vulnerable to addiction. Genetic factors play a significant role in development of addiction.
- Twin studies have shown that 40% to 60% of the risk of alcoholism is genetic.
- A gene linked to addiction is the A1 variant of the D2 dopamine receptor gene. Blum found a strong correlation between severe alcoholism and the presence of this gene.
- The A1 variant of the D2 dopamine receptor gene decreases the number of D2 dopamine receptors in the brains reward pathway, resulting in a less active reward pathway. Those affected may seek intoxication to compensate for the lack of dopamine activity in their brains reward pathway, caused by a lack of D2 receptors.
Outline Peers.
- A persons peer are people of a similar age and social status. During adolescence they become a significant risk factor for developing addiction as during this stage of development, young people are highly motivated to seek social acceptance from their peers.
- They may act as risk factors as they can model attitudes that encourage addictive behaviours. But they do not directly concern the addictive behaviour. What is influential is the creation of a group norm that favours risk taking. Adopting an attitude that favours risk taking then increases the likelihood of developing an addiction.
- They may also see this as a normal behaviour.
Outline Personality.
- Personality refers to pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving that differ between individuals. Some traits contribute to the development of addiction.
- Individuals with high levels of impulsivity are likely to act on their desires without thinking of consequences. Impulsive individuals may overlook the larger future benefits of abstaining from addictive behaviour and instead focus on instant gratification.
- Sensation seeking is a personality trait which involves the need for high levels of external stimulation combined with the urge to seek such stimulation. Individuals with high levels of sensation seeking are also at greater risk of developing an addiction, perhaps due to greater subjective effects associated with drug use.
Outline Family Influence.
- One way family influence creates a risk factor is the parenting style. One parenting style identified as being a risk factor addiction is the permissible style. These parents are involved with the child but do not place any controls on their behaviour.
- Another parenting style that has been identified as a risk factor for developing addiction is authoritarian style. Parents with this style are demanding and quickly resort to the use of punishment.
- However, research has found that an authoritarian style of parenting (high levels of emotional warmth and appropriate leve;s of parental control) has been associated with lowered levels of addictive behaviours, meaning it is a protective factor against addiction.
Outline stress
- One explanation for the string linkage between stress and addiction is the self medication theory, which suggests that the person may use drugs to cope with tension associated with life stressors or to relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression resulting from a traumatic event. Meaning drug use functions regulate emotions and soothe psychological distress.
- Stress plays a causal role in impulsive behaviour. This is because chronic stress (long lasting) reduces the functioning of the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain involved in decision making). Poor functioning of the prefrontal cortex can contribute to a more impulsive style of decision making that helps explain why stressed people are prone to give in to impulses like drug abuse to cope with daily stress.
- Research has found that identified stressors are associated with an increased risk of addiction. Some of these stressors include experiences of childhood abuse, domestic violence and employment dissatisfaction.
General comparison points of risk factors.
- Some risk factors refer to internal causes such as personality and genetic vulnerability. Whereas others refer to external factors such as family influences and peers. Stress is arguably both, as we experience stress from our environment but it affects us internally.
How does research into the role of risk factors in the development of addiction highlight the importance of taking a holistic approach?
This is evident in the biopsychosocial model. According to this model, addiction is the result of a combination of risk factors that fall under the broad categories of biological (e.g., genes), psychological (e.g., personality), and social factors (e.g., stress, family and peers). This model is holistic as it proposes addiction cannot be explained by any specific risk factor or even a specific combination of risk factors. This holistic approach is necessary, as it’s clear that there are many pathways to developing an addiction, involving a combination of risk factors from biological, psychological and social levels of explanation, each of which contribute a small increase in the risk of developing an addiction. This illustrates the problem with a reductionist approach to explaining the development of addiction, as none of the individual risk factors researchers have identified are sufficient in themselves to explain addiction. The advantage of taking a holistic approach to understanding how different risk factors contribute to the development of addiction is that it can inform treatments for addiction. If there are many routes to developing an addiction, then treatments for addiction need to respond to this variety of causes.
What is a criticism of research into risk factors for developing an addiction?
It ignores the role of free will. The implication of such research is that exposure to factors such as stress will increase the risk that a person will develop an addiction. Consequently, if a person is exposed to enough risk factors, they will develop an addiction. This approach overlooks the role of free will because it leaves no room for role conscious decision making in the development of an addiction. If the development of addiction is presented as entirely determined by risk factors that are beyond human control, then addicts really never had the choice to have done otherwise i.e., their addiction was the result of hard determinism. However, there are advantages of using risk factors to provide a hard deterministic explanation for the development of addictions. This is because it helps challenge the socially sensitive claim that addicts have “chosen” to be addicts. Such a belief is problematic as if addicts have chosen to be addicts, then it could be argued there is no moral obligation to help them. However, if addicts are understood to have developed their addiction because they were exposed to risk factors they had no control over, then society is morally obligated to help them. However, there is another danger to explaining the development of addiction through hard determinism. This is because it presents addicts as merely passive victims of forces beyond their control. Arguably, this could lead some addicts to believe they lack the necessary internal locus of control to take control of their behaviour and give up their addiction.
What important economic implications for research into the role of risk factors are there in the development of addiction?
Addiction is an economic burden on society. Every year, drug addictions by themselves cost the UK £10.7 billion in policing, healthcare, welfare and crime, with drug-related theft alone costing £6 billion a year. There are also costs relating to the economic inactivity and poor productivity of those experiencing
addiction. Research into risk factors/a specific risk factor can inform public policies that can reduce the likelihood that people ever develop an addiction. This would save society a lot of money by, for example, reducing costs associated drug-related crime. Such savings could then be directed towards programmes to help people who already have an addiction, which would then also be economically beneficial to society as a whole
Why is research into the role of family influence for the development of addiction socially sensitive?
Sieber and Stanley argued that research is socially sensitive when it has the potential for social
consequences, like stigma. Research into family influence has the potential to stigmatise as Research into family or peers might stigmatize the family or peers of an addict, essentially
blaming them for the addiction.
