Risk Factors

Question 1

what are the 4 risks of addiction

Answer 1

peers/family
personality
genetic vulnerability
stress

Question 2

what are the 4 main ways that peers influence addiction/behaviour

Answer 2

• someone at risk is influenced by associating with those who engage in addictive behaviour
• providing opportunities for individuals to try addictive behaviour
• overestimating how much others are performing behaviour meaning they do it more to ‘keep up’
• the group norm creates the expectation of the behaviour meaning people follow it

Question 3

what is social identity thoery

Answer 3

‘to attain group membership we perform the group behaviour’

Question 4

who researched peers affect on addiction

Answer 4

Eiser et al (1991)

Question 5

what did Eiser et al find when researching addiction

Answer 5

found that smokers tend to befriend smokers and non smoker tend to befriend non smokers in adolescent groups

Question 6

what are the 4 ways that family influence addiction

Answer 6

social learning theory
schema
parental style
parental approval

Question 7

how does family influence addiction according to social learning theory

Answer 7

the person learns the behaviour from family members as part of vicarious reinforcement

Question 8

how does family influence addiction according to schema

Answer 8

the behaviour is seen so often through growing up that its assimilated into the child’s schema as part of normal behaviours

Question 9

how does parenting style influence addiction

Answer 9

authoritative parents who show warmth and appropriate control minimise levels of substance abuse

Question 10

how does parental approval influence likelihood of addiction

Answer 10

if people perceive their parents views towards behaviour as negative/forbidden they are likely to engage in behaviour

also if a person believes a parent will not monitor nor be interested in them engaging in behaviour they are likely to develop addictive behaviour

Question 11

who researched the influence that parents have on addiction

Answer 11

Akers and Lee

Question 12

what did Akers and lee find in their research into families influence addiction

Answer 12

sample: 454 YA aged 12-17 were assessed for smoking behaviours (trying, continuing or quitting)
they found social factors, family in particular, influence behaviour the most

Question 13

how can personality lead to addiction according to Ivanov et al

Answer 13

a person with high levels of impulsivity, risk taking and sensation seeking is more likely to obtain addiction

Question 14

how can personality lead to addiction

Answer 14

having a harm avoidant personality (where you don’t want to be seen as saying no) leads to high levels of impulsivity thus resulting in risk of addiction increasing

Question 15

how can long lasting stress lead to addiction

Answer 15

traumatic stress: Severe stress causes vulnerability such as parental loss/child abuse –> more apparent in kids

Self-medication: people use a substance/behaviour to ‘treat’ their issue theyr’e currently having

Question 16

who researched the relationship of addiction and stress

Answer 16

Driessen et al

Question 17

what did driessen et al find when researching addiction

Answer 17

found 30% drug addicts and 15% alcoholics also had PTSD implying stress plays a role in addiction

Question 18

what are the 2 reasons why someone may be genetically vulnerable to addiction

Answer 18

Dopamine receptor gene
metabolising

Question 19

how does dopamine receptor genes influence addiction

Answer 19

genes can produce different types of receptors and their sensitivity
(more sensitivity to dopamine = higher chance of addiction)
Therefore its argued some addicts have different variants of genes causing different receptors

Question 20

who researched dopamine receptor genes in addicts

Answer 20

Caine et al (2007)

Question 21

what did caine et al research on mice mean for addicts

Answer 21

he found that mice enginnered to lack D1 (dopamine) recpetors do not self-administer cocaine when given the chance to vs normal mice who went feral for the stuff

Question 22

how does the genetic vulnerability, metabolising lead to addiction

Answer 22

some individuals are more able able to metabolise certain substances meaning that they process the substance differently meaning its easily to become addicted as they need more ot feel the same effect

Question 23

what is a strength of family and peer influences being a risk factor of addiction

Answer 23

P:research to support the role of family + friends
E: eiser et al, akers and lee both found that family and peers influence the likelihood of engaging in behaviour
L: this means that social relations do impact the risk of addictive behaviour

Question 24

what is a weakness of family and peer influences being a risk factor of addiction

Answer 24

P: Many other factors contributing to family influencs
E: For example age of child, extent to which they identify with family etc
E: seeing a parent smoke at age 12 creates greater risk than at age 4
L: therefore this may not truly be a factor

Question 25

what is a strength of personality being a risk factor of addiction

Answer 25

P: there is supporting evidence for personality being a risk for addiction
E: for example cloginers theory was supported by Howard et al meta analysis
E: howard found that high novelty seeking correlated with risk of alcohol abuse
L: this shows how personality can impact liklihood of addiction

Question 26

what is a weakness of personality being a risk factor of addiction

Answer 26

P:there is issues with research mainly being correlation
E: although evidence of personality traits are correlated with addiction
E: this doesnt mean that having those personality traits cause one to be at greater risk it could be being addicted to drugs changes one personality
L: so we cannot be sure that personality is the cause

Question 27

what is a strength of stress being a risk factor of addiction

Answer 27

P: there is supporting evidence for the idea stress causes addiction
E: for example, Driessen et al demonstrates a correlation between stress + addiction
E: he found 30% of drug addicts and 15% of alcoholics also have PTSD
L: implies stress plays a role in addiction

Question 28

what is a strength of stress being a risk factor of addiction

Answer 28

P: there is practical application
E: understanding the link between addiction and relapse rates could help to prevent addiction
E: for example doctors could assess stress levels and direct at risk patients to resources that can help
L: therefore reduces the amount of addiction within in society

Question 29

what is a weakness of genetic vulnerability a risk factor of addiction

Answer 29

P: genetics are never 100% the cause
E: for example a person may live in an environment where they never come across addictive substance, so genetic vulnerability never materialise as actual addiction
E: even identical twins do not have 100% concordance rates for addiction showing how there is other factors involved
L: therefore an interactionist perspective may be better at understanding addiction

Question 30

what is a strength of genetic vulnerability being a risk factor of addiction

Answer 30

P: there is supporting evidence that genetics play a role in addiction
E: for example, slutske et al shows a genetic inheritance chance of addiction
E: they found the following concordance rates
Male Mz: 49%
Male Dz: 21%
Female Mz: 55%
Female dz: 21%
L: therefore this suggests a genetic impact on addiction due to higher rates in Mz twins