Risk factors and addiction: Family influences Flashcards
Social learning theory?
This suggests that we model our behaviour on key role models, and some of the most critical are in our home, such as parents and siblings. SLT suggests that we may learn to become addicted to behaviours through vicarious reinforcement and role models.
Expectancy?
Families help shape our expectations about the world, and contribute to our schemas. If we are led to believe (by family members) that some behaviours like repeated drinking and smoking relieve stress and boredom, we may initiate this type of behaviour ourselves for the expected rewards.
Parenting style?
Uninvolved parenting lacks focus on their children
Authoritarian parents (who show warmth but also appropriate control) have been associated with the shaping of psychological resilience and emotional well being and low levels of substance abuse (Fletcher, 1995).
Permissive parents give their children too much attention. This lack of discipline and self control opens up more opportunity for children to fall into patterns of drug use
FAMILY INFLUENCES - Research evidence?
Goddard (1990) completed longitudinal research to examine factors that may predict youngsters’ smoking behaviour. The main finding was that if parents smoke, the kids are far more likely to themselves. In addition, Murray (194) found that if parents are perceived as very anti-smoking then the kids were 7 times less likely to smoke.
FAMILY INFLUENCES - Theoretical flaws?
There is evidence to question the family influence argument as twins who may be adopted and reared apart away and brought up by those not genetically related to them, still both show addictive behaviours suggesting that it is not family influence that is the key risk factor but genetics. For example Shields 1962 in his adoption study examined the concordance between 42 twin pairs that were reared apart on smoking behaviour. Only 9 pairs were actually discordant, showing how genetic similarity is a major factor in starting to smoke.
FAMILY INFLUENCES - Individual differences?
Hinde ( 1985 ) suggests Peer networks become our primary source of socialisation at around 12-14 replacing our parents as sources of reinforcement. This means for some people, friends will be more influential than parents and may become role models in their place and so have a greater influence on their later behaviour..
FAMILY INFLUENCES - Practical applications?
For example, if families can be seen as influencing children’s tendencies towards addictive behaviours, then intervention strategies can focus on this factor and target parents with the aim to emphasise the extent of their influence and persuade them to model positive behaviours rather than addictive ones.
