Addiction - Risk Factors In The Development Of Addiction Flashcards
What are risk factors?
Any internal/external influence that increases the likelihood a person will start using addictive substances/engage in addictive behaviours
What is genetic vulnerability?
Any inherited predisposition that increases the risk of a disorder/condition
What are the D2 receptor & the nicotine enzyme examples of?
The 2 mechanisms that create a genetic vulnerability to addiction
How is the D2 receptor involved in genetic vulnerability to addiction?
People with addiction have abnormally low D2 receptors -> means less dopamine (drugs compensate for the deficiency)
How do the results from Kendler et al’s study show about a genetic vulnerability for addiction?
Children adopted away from bio parents with addiction had greater risk (8.6%) of developing addiction than those adopted from families with no risk (4.2%)
What is stress & how is that linked to addiction?
Stressful life events & traumatic experiences in childhood & adulthood -> important risk factors for addiction
What do Andersen & Teicher say about stress & addiction?
Highlight the role of adverse childhood experiences in later addiction
Argue early experiences of stress have damaging effects on a young brain (in a sensitive period of development) -> creates vulnerability to stress
Further stressful experiences trigger earlier vulnerability & make it more likely that an individual with self-medicate with drugs/other behavioural addictions
What is personality & how is that linked to addiction?
Traits e.g. impulsivity can increase the risk of addiction
What is APD?
Antisocial personality disorder
What does Robins say about APD and addiction?
APD is a casual risk factor (people with APD break social norms, are impulsive & behave criminally) -> inevitable they will try drugs young
How does family influences link to addiction?
How much the at-risk individual believes how much his/her parents approve of addictive substances/behaviours -> influences addiction
What does Livingston et al say about family influence and alcohol?
Final-year high school students who were allowed to drink alcohol at home were significantly more likely to drink in college
Adolescents that believe their parents have little/no interest in monitoring behaviour are more likely to develop an addiction (key determinant in adolescents perception)
How are peers & addiction linked?
Attitudes of peers towards addictive substances/behaviours becomes highly influential in increasing the risk of developing an adolescence (creation of group norm that favours rule-breaking)
What does O’Connell et al say about peers & addiction?
3 major elements
- at risk adolescent’s attitudes & norms about drinking influenced by associating with peers who use alcohol
- experienced peers provide more opportunities for at risk individuals to use alcohol
- individual over-estimates how much peers are drinking (drink more to keep up with percieved norm)
EVALUATION: What is a strength of the genetic vulnerability risk factor, proposed by pianezza et al
Some people lack fully functioning nicotine enzyme (CYP2A6) -> metabolises nicotine (smoke significantly less than those with fully functioning version)
EVALUATION: How is the issue of causation a weakness of the stress risk factor of addiction?
Many studies show positive correlation but doesnt especially mean stress is a risk factor (order of which stress & addiction develops matter) e.g. some get addicted then stressed because of addiction -> still causes postive correlation but addiction caused the stress not vice versa
EVALUATION: What is a strength about the personality risk factor of addiction?
STUDIES SHOW APD & ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE ARE CO-MORBID
Bahlmann -> interviewed 55 alcohol dependent people (18 diagnosed with APD) -> for the 18 participants researchers found that APD developed 4 years before their alcohol dependency (average)
EVALUATION: What is a strength of the family influences risk factor of addiction?
RESEARCH SUPPORT
Madras et al -> found strong positive correlation between parents use of cannabis & adolescents use of cannabis, nicotine & opioids
May be that adolescents observe parents use specific drug & model this behaviour (may infer their parents approve of drug use generally, go on to use other drugs)
EVALUATION: What real-world application is a strength of the peers risk factor of addiction?
Social norms marketing advertising (SNMA) -> intervention to change mistaken beliefs about how much peers are drinking
Uses mass media ads to provide messages & stats about how much people are really drinking (students can more accurately picture to correct overestimations
