Addiction - Unit 4

Question 1

Corrigall and Coen 1977

Answer 1

DOPAMINE REWARD SYSTEM
When rat pressed a lever, nicotine was delivered directly into the rats reward pathway. The rats quickly learnt to press the lever to get a nicotine release, suggesting that nicotine is rewarding, and therefore addictive due to its affect on the reward pathway of the brain.

Question 2

Corrigall and Coen - dopamine blocked

Answer 2

When dopamine release was blocked, then self administration of nicotine reduced, suggesting that the effect nicotine has on dopamine is addictive.

Question 3

Thorgeirsson

Answer 3

GENETIC VULNERABILITY
Found a cluster of genes on chromosome 15 associated with a type of nicotine receptor in the brain. This gene cluster was also linked to a greater number of cigarettes being smoked a day and to nicotine dependency. Some people may be more vulnerable

Question 4

Schuck

Answer 4

People who had close relatives who were alcoholics reported feeling less intoxicated after an alcoholic drink than a matched group whose relatives did not abuse alcohol. This suggests the high risk group may have inherited a difficulty in recognising when they have drunk too much, making them at a greater risk for alcohol a nude problems.

Question 5

Coming 1986

Answer 5

Found that pathological gamblers are more likely to have a version of the DRD2 gene. This gene reduces the number of dopamine receptors in the reward pathway, so gambling and other impulsive behaviours that boost dopamine will be more rewarding.

Question 6

Conner et al

Answer 6

SUPPORTS COGNITIVE AND TPB MODEL
Questioned 675 11-12 yo who had not smoked about their intentions to smoke. Nine months later, intention to smoke was a good predictor of who had taken up smoking (self report and carbon monoxide on breath).

Question 7

Griffiths 1994

Answer 7

Regular gamblers were more likely to show irrational thoughts about gambling, such as personifying the machine and explaining away losses

Question 8

NIDA

Answer 8

Found 90% of American smokers reported starting to smoke as teenagers as a result of imitating peers

Question 9

White and Hiroi 1993

Answer 9

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Rats preferred areas of the cage where they got amphetamines over areas of the cage where they did not get amphetamines - demonstrates learned associations

Question 10

Childs 2010

Answer 10

STRESS AS VULNERABILITY FACTOR

Smokers craved cigarettes significantly more after a social stress test than after a non stressful task

Question 11

Cleck and Blendy

Answer 11

Supported this in their review which found a correlation between abuse in childhood and addictive behaviour in adulthood

Question 12

Garnier and Stein

Answer 12

PEERS AS VULNERABILITY FACTOR
Longitudinal study of 198 families over 18 years, substance abuse in peers was associated with substance abuse in teenagers

Question 13

Bricker

Answer 13

Longitudinal study of 6,000 adolescents found that close friends influenced initiation and maintenance of smoking. Therefore, we should not overlook the role of parental behaviour by focusing too much on the role of peers.

Question 14

Shram

Answer 14

AGE AS VULNERABILITY FACTOR
Found adolescent rats were more sensitive to the rewarding effects of nicotine than adult rat. This suggests biological factors in the teenage brain may make it more vulnerable to addictions (so teenage addiction is not just about peer pressure)

Question 15

Hefler

Answer 15

Found 46% of over 75 year old men drink each day compared to only 6% of 25-34 year olds

Question 16

Parke 2004

Answer 16

PERSONALITY AS VULNERABILITY FACTOR
Found that pathological gamblers had more competitive personalities and were less able to defer gratification than non gamblers

Question 17

Conrod

Answer 17

PERSONALITY AS VULNERABILITY FACTOR
Targeted adolescents with high risk personality for a drinking education intervention. 6 months later the high risk adolescents who had the education were significantly less likes to have consumed alcohol than the no intervention group

Question 18

Gunakesera

Answer 18

Portrayal of addictive behaviours (such as sec, smoking, alcohol) were relatively common in films, but portrayal of negative consequences were very rare

Question 19

Dalton

Answer 19

Positive correlation between the amount of movies an adolescent watches with smoking in and probability they smoke 1 year later

Question 20

Laflin

Answer 20

SUPPORTS TPB
Questioned over 2,700 students, found that behavioural attitudes and subjective norms were better predictors of drug use than self esteem

Question 21

Gaboury and LaDouceur

Answer 21

EFFICACY OF PREVENTION PLANS BASED ON TPB
Gambling prevention program with high school students in Canada. Gave info about gambling, negative consequences, and strategies to control gambling behaviour. Knowledge of gambling improved but 6 months later, there was no effect on gambling behaviour

Question 22

Davison

Answer 22

Found those treated with patched significantly more likely to be abstinent 12 months later than those treated with placebo patches. 72% of those treated did relapse within the year, Pisinger found combining NRT with group support may improve success

Question 23

Elkins

Answer 23

Reviewed evidence and found that 60% of people were abstinent from alcohol 1 year after aversion therapy (chemically induced nausea), leaving 40% still drinking

Question 24

LaDoucer

Answer 24

Randomly allocated 66 pathological gamblers to either CBT or ‘wait list’. Of those who completed the treatment, 86% no longer met the criteria for pathological gambling. They also has an improved perception of self efficacy that lasted at the one year follow up.

Question 25

Menzies

Answer 25

Tested bar workers lung function 1 month before and 2 months after smoking ban in Scotland (quasi experiment). Symptoms related to passive smoking fell from 80% to 50%.

Question 26

Hornik

Answer 26

Found that the anti drug campaign in the US did not work and may have increased marijuana use