risk factors (family and peers) Flashcards
family influences
according to family influences, the key detriment to forming an addiction is the perceived parental approval (does the adolescent believe their family has positive attitudes towards an addictive substance or behaviour)
parents exert their influence on their offspring’s addictive behaviour in 3 ways:
1 - provide social models for their offspring e..g. adolescents with substance-abusing parents are more likely to engage in substance abuse themselves (Biederman et al 2000)
- adolescents who believe their parents have little or no interest in monitoring their behaviour (e.g. internet use, peer relations) are significantly more likely to develop an addiction
- exposure e.g. adolescents are more likely to start using alcohol in families where it is an everyday feature of family life or where there is a history of alcohol addiction
social learning theory
suggests that addictive behaviours are learned through observing those people we spend the most time with e.g. family
SLT involves imitation e.g. copying behaviours shown by our parents/family such as smoking which can lead to an addiction
the processes involved are attention to the details of the behaviour (how does the family member look, are they happy)
- retention of important details of the behaviour (were there any consequences)
- motivation to carry out the behaviour (being willing to carry out the addictive behaviour independently)
- repetitive reproduction of the addictive behaviour
motivation is influenced by vicarious reinforcement (seeing parents/family being rewarded for the addictive behaviour) and identification (wanting to be just like mummy/daddy)
although the rewards are indirect, the person watching develops an expectancy that they will gain the same benefits if they imitate the addictive behaviour so, the behaviours we are exposed to in our home environment influences the likelihood of a person engaging in these same addictive behaviours
strength of family influence as a risk factor
supporting research evidence
livingston et al 2010
found that final-year high school students who were allowed by their parents to drink alcohol at home were significantly more likely to drink excessively the following year at college
strengthens validity of family influences in development of addiction
limit of family influence
environmentally determinist
which is when a theory suggests that our free choice or personal responsibility in our own behaviours is limited by factors outside of our control
e.g. despite being exposed to tolerant parents, individuals have a choice to engage in this behaviour
this suggests that family influence as a risk factor ignores the role of free-will and is therefore a flawed explanation on its own for addiction
limit of family influence 2
environmentally reductionist
which is when a theory unfairly simplifies human behaviour by ignoring other important influences
family influence is an environmental influence which doesn’t consider the role of genetics (having inherited specific genes such as a faulty DRD2 gene) which makes a person more vulnerable to addiction
this causes us to question the validity of family influence as an adequate explanation for addiction risk
peers
peers refers to those that are the same age and status as us, and who have the same shared common values and standards of behaviour
peer pressure makes people more vulnerable to addiction
SLT plays an important role in peer pressure, because the behaviour of peers is imitated in hope of receiving similar direct rewards
SLT (Tajfel and Turner 1986) explains why individuals are likely to be influenced by peer pressure
- theory suggests that a significant part of an individual’s self-concept is formed as a result of the groups of which they are a part
- essential to be associated with the in-group in order to be socially accepted, making the individual more likley to adopt their behaviours
peer pressure role
diclemente identified the ways in which peer pressure makes people vulnerable to addiction
- peers exert their influence by introducing individuals to risky behaviours and pressurise them to take part in anti-social behaviours (e.g. a person will imitate the addictive behaviours shown by their peers to fit in and be socially accepted and to gain same rewards)
- peers create social networks which means they provide easy access to the addictive behaviour (e.g. these networks consist of individuals with similar habits, so the behaviour is more prevalent and available)
- once addiction starts, an individual may be further rejected by non-addicted peets so they find it difficult to quit and distance themselves from those peers who are non-judgemental towards them (because they have a similar habit)
strength of peer pressure
strong research evidence
from taylor
studied data from a sample of 900 american boys which was collected over a period of 9 years and found that by the time the participants were 20 years old, 64% had given into peer pressure to use drugs and 10% of those users had a drug addiction
suggests that peer pressure makes people vulnerable to addiction, particularly as peers exert their influence by introducing individuals to risky behaviours and pressurise them to take part in drug taking
limit of peer pressure
received refuting research evidence
devries et al 2006
found that parental smoking behaviours was a stronger predictor of smoking adoption than peer influence
suggests peer pressure as a risk factor is a weak argument
strength of peer pressure 2
far-reaching practical applications
which is when an explanation has real world applications such as an effective drug treatment
nancy tobler et all 2000 created a peer pressure resistance programme to help prevent young people from taking up smoking
this suggests that researching risk factors, such as the influence of peers, is a highly promising strategy for preventing and treating addictions
