Studies Flashcards
Corrigal and Coen
Implanted rats brains so that nicotine was delivered directly to the reward pathway. They quickly learned to press a leaver to deliver nicotine, suggesting nicotine is rewarding.
Thorgeirsson
Found a cluster of genes on chromosome 15 that was directly linked to a type of nicotine receptor in the brain. This gene was also linked to a greater number of cigarettes being smoked a day and nicotine dependency. This suggests some people may be genetically vulnerable to nicotine addiction.
Schuckit
Found that people who had close relatives who abused alcohol reported feeling less intoxicated after an alcoholic drink than a matched group who’s relatives did not abuse alcohol. Suggests the high risk group may have inherited a difficulty in recognising when they had drunk to much, making them at greater risk of alcohol abuse problems.
Coming
Found that pathological gamblers are more likely to have the D2A1 variation of the DRD2 gene. This reduces the number of dopamine receptors in the reward pathway so gambling and other impulsive behaviours that boost dopamine will be particularly rewarding.
Conner
Questioned 675 11-12 year old school children who had never smoked about their intention to smoke. Nine months later, beliefs about intention to smoke was a good predictor of who took up smoking.
Griffiths
Regular gamblers were more likely to show negative thoughts about gambling, for example personifying the machine and explaining away their losses.
National institute of drug abuse
Found 90% of American smokers began smoking as a teenager
White and Hiroi
Found that rats preferred areas of the cage where they got amphetamines over areas of the cage where they didn’t. Demonstrates learned associations.
Childs
Found that people craved cigarettes more after a social stress test than after a non stressful task.
Cleck and Blendy
Supports Child’s. Found a correlation between abuse in childhood and addictive behaviour in adulthood
Garnier
Longitudinal study on 198 families over 18 years found that substance abuse in peers was associated with substance abuse in teenagers
Bricker
Longitudinal study on 6,000 adolescents found that close friends influenced initiation of smoking the most, whilst parents smoking behaviour influenced smoking at initiation and maintenance of smoking. Therefore we should not overlook the role of parental behaviour by focussing too much on the role of peers
Shram
Found adolescent rats were more sensitive to rewarding effects of nicotine. This suggests that biological factors in a teenage brain may make them more vulnerable to addiction.
Hefler
Found 46% of over 75 year old men drink each day in comparison to 6% of 25-34 year old
Parke
Found that pathological gamblers had more competitive personalities and were less able to defer gratification than non gamblers
Conrod
Targeted adolescents with high risk personality for a drinking intervention. 6 months later the high risk adolescents who had the education were significantly less likely to consume alcohol than the control.
Gunakesera
Portrayal of addictive behaviours were relatively common (tobacco -68%, alcohol -32%) but portrayal of negative consequences were very rare.
Dalton
Found a correlation between the amount of movies an adolescent watches and the probability of them smoking one year later
Laflin
Questioned over 2,700 students and found that subjective norms and behavioural attitudes were better predictors of drug use than self esteem
Gaboury and LaDoucer
Introduced a gambling prevention program in Canada where they gave information about gambling, the negative consequences and how to control gambling behaviour. Knowledge of gambling improved however 6 months later there was no effect on gambling behaviour.
Davison
Found those treated with nicotine patches were significantly more likely to be abstinent 12-months later than those treated with placebo patches, but 72% of those treated with patches did relapse within the year
Elkins
Reviewed evidence and found that 60% of people were abstinent from drinking after aversion therapy
Higgins et al
28 cocaine addicts were given vouchers after urine tested clear of cocaine. Also had intensive counciling. Drop out rate was much lower than other types of drug treatment.
LaDoucer
Randomly allocated 66 pathological gamblers to either CBT or to a wait list. Of those who completed treatment 86% no longer met the criteria for pathological gambling. They also had an improved perception of self-efficacy that lasted at the one year follow up
