Evaluation of risk factors in the development of addiction Flashcards
Genetic vulnerability: Support from adoption studies
P - One strength of genetic vulnerability as a risk factor for addiction is support from adoption studies
E - Data from the National Swedish Adoption Study was used by Kendler et al. They paid particular attention to adults who had grown up in biological families where at least one parent struggled with addiction
E - These children later had significantly greater risk of developing an addiction, compared with adopted away individuals with no addicted parent in their biological families
L - This supports the role of genetic vulnerability as an important risk factor, and it is supported by other research (e.g twin studies)
Genetic vulnerability: Reductionism
The biological reductionism explanation suggests that substance addiction is primarily due to an individual’s genetic makeup, neglecting social factors like peer pressure and moral values. An interactionist approach, which combines genetic influence with social factors, is more suitable and likely to lead to more effective addiction treatment methods.
Stress: Issue of causation
P - One limitation of stress as a risk factor is the issue of causation.
E - Studies indicate a high positive correlation between stressful situations and addiction, suggesting that stress may be a risk factor for addiction.
E - The development of stress and addiction, however, depends on the order. Because the negative impacts of their addictions on their lifestyle might cause increasing stress, some people may develop an addiction without experiencing severe life stress.
L - Therefore, stress cannot be definitively determined to be a substantial risk factor by correlational research alone.
Stress: Research evidence
- Hajek et al
- Cloniger
Hajek et al - Smoking to reduce stress is common, although many studies have found it increases stress
Cloniger - two types of alcoholics, only one drinks due to stress
Type 1 - Drink to reduce tension (More likely to be female and prone to anxiety/depression)
Type 2 - Drinking to reduce boredom (More likely to be male, and a risk taker)
Personality: Support for the link between addiction and APD
P - One strength of personality as a risk factor for addiction is support for the link between addiction and APD
E - APD and alcoholism are co-morbid, meaning they frequently occur together, according to several studies. But is APD a casual factor? In an interview with 55 alcohol-dependent individuals,
E - Bahimann et al. found that 18 of them had also been diagnosed with APD, which had developed four years prior to their alcohol dependence.
L - This research implies that personality-related APD risk factors for alcohol addiction do exist.
Family influences: Research support
P - One strength is research support for family influences as a risk factor
E - Madras et al found a strong positive correlation between parents’ cannabis abuse and their adolescent children’s use of cannabis, nicotine, alcohol, and opioids.
E - May be that adolescents observe their parents using a specific drug and model this behaviour. May also infer that their parents approve of drug use generally, go on to use other drugs
L - Supports view that parental abuse is a potential risk factor for wider addiction in adolescent offspring
Family influences: Quine and Stephenson/Bonomo
A study by Quine and Stephenson (1990) found that children were more likely to have the intention to drink or have drunk a glass of alcohol if their parents drank at least weekly.
Bonomo et al. (2001) found adolescents who experienced an alcohol-related injury were 1.8 times more likely to have parents who drank daily.
However, it’s difficult to separate family influence from other influences like peers and media, and these studies are correlational, not showing cause and effect.
Peers: Real world application
P - One strength of claiming peer pressure as a risk factor towards addiction is that there is real world application of peer evidence.
E - The goal of social norms marketing advertising is to address misconceptions about the amount of alcohol that peers consume. It provides messages and statistics on the true amount of alcohol use through mass media advertising.
E - In a student union bar, for instance, leaflets, posters, and beer mats may include messages like “Students overestimate what others drink by 44%.” Following that, students receive a more realistic image to adjust for their overestimations.
L - This means that, in contrast to stress as a contributing element, more reliable risk factors might offer suggestions for how to lessen their impact.
Overall evaluation of risk factors (2)
Interaction between factors
Central role of genetics
Interaction between factors
No single factor is causal to addiction; instead, various combinations determine its nature and severity. Risky factors, such as personality traits, genetics, and family influences, can also be protective e.g greater parental monitoring.
This suggests a more realistic view of risk is to consider multiple pathways to addiction, including different combinations interacting and some having a positive effect.
Understanding risk factors is the link to genetic influence
Most risk factors are immediate, such as high stress and novelty seeking, but they are also partly genetic. To fully understand risk factors, we need to look back in the chain of influences to the ultimate risk factor, often genetic vulnerability, which has the ultimate influence on others.
