Sociocultural Explanations of Addiction - Social Cognitive Learning Theory + Role of stress Flashcards
What does Social Cognitive Learning Theory argue?
It argues that we learn behaviors by observing the behaviors of others. For a behavior to be successfully imitated, it is important that we identify the model and we see that the model has been positively awarded for their behavior (vicarious reinforcement).
What does research say about self-efficacy playing a role in substance use and addiction?
Strong self-efficacy may lead someone to say “I don’t need to use drugs to have fun”, or worse, “If I use a drug, I could stop at any time.” Research indicates that this plays a key role in the formation of addiction.
Bauman et al (1990)
Aim: Investigate the influence of parental smoking behavior on adolescent’s smoking habits
Procedure: It was a survey-based study that collection information on smoking habits and the status of participants’ parents smoking or not.
Findings:
If the parents did not smoke, than their children were less likely to smoke. 80% of adolescents whose parents did not smoke had never tried smoking, whereas over 50% of those with parents that smoked did.
How stress can lead to smoking?
Stress leads to pain, in different forms. Therefore, individuals can seek substances and drugs as a method of coping with this pain, but that may lead to addictive behavior.
Rothman et al (2008)
Aim: To exams whether ACEs are associated with an earlier age of drinking onset
Sample: Over 3000 current or former drinkers in the US
Procedure:
A survey that assessed participants on 10 categories of ACEs and other information related to the timing and motives behind their alcohol use.
Results:
Over 60% of the sample experienced one or more ACE, and almost 20% had experienced 4 or more.
Findings:
ACEs increase risk of early dinking onset, and individuals with ACEs were more likely to use alcohol as a coping mechanism of stress, rather than for social or pleasure purposes.
How can ACE play a role in addiction as well
Adverse Childhood Experiences are experiences that produce a lot of stress in an individual’s life, which makes them more susceptible to addiction.
3 cons of sociocultural explanations of addiction
- Most of the research done on human participants is correlational, making it difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
- Social Cognitive Theory shows why individuals may initiate drug use, but not why they more form dependency or addiction. The theory is more explanatory than predictive.
- Research on ACE does not usually have evidence of the genetic makeup or general temperament of children before the ACE. This means it difficult to know whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the environmental factors of ACE interacting with biological factors and later substance use because of unmeasured biological vulnerabilities that the child may have had before the ACE.
2 pros of sociocultural explanations for addiction
- They are based on real-life social and cultural contexts (such as peer pressure and media influence) which means they have high applicability and real-world relevance.
- Although correlational research cannot establish causality, the often demonstrate high reliability, as the correlation between variables (such as ACEs and substance use) have been consistently produced similar results across diverse studies and populations using standardized measures
