Risk factors for addiction

Question 1

what are the 5 risk factors for addiction

Answer 1

Genetics
Stress
Personality
Family influence
Peer influence

Question 2

Descrive what is meant by genetic vulnerability

Answer 2

individuals may inherit candidate genes which provide them with
a heredity predisposition towards developing an addiction,

Question 3

state three peices of evidence which supports genetic vulnerability as an explanation for addiction.

Answer 3

Nielsen et al (2008) compared DNA of 104 former heroin addicts with 101 controls and found several genetic patterns associated with heroin addiction.

A meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies by Verhulst et al (2015) estimated that alcohol addiction is approximately 50% heritable

Twin studies: Concordance rates of alcohol and heroin addiction are much higher among identical twins than non-identical twins.

Question 4

inter…

State a criticism of genetic vulnerability explanation in terms of an approach .

Answer 4

Interactionism: Despite this genetic component, there is clearly more to addiction than just genetics.

Firstly, a person may live in an environment where they never come across addictive substances and so their genetic vulnerability never materialises as actual addiction.

Secondly, even identical twins don’t have 100% concordance rates for addiction. As such, the role of genetics in addiction should be understood from an interactionist perspective:

Genetic vulnerability + environment = addiction.

Question 5

state a criticism of the genetic vulnerability explanation in terms of methodological issues.

Answer 5

Twin studies typically assume that both identical (monozygotic) and non-identical (dizygotic) are raised in identical environments and so any differences in concordance rates are due to genetics. However, this assumption is not certain. For example, parents are likely to treat non-identical twins more differently than identical twins and so this environmental factor could also contribute to differences in concordance rates. This could mean genetic influences on addiction are exaggerated.

Question 6

state the criticism of the genetic vulnerability explanation in terms of variation.

Answer 6

Variation between substances: Evidence suggests genetic vulnerability to addiction varies between different substances/behaviours. For example, a person may have genetics that make them particularly vulnerable to developing gambling addiction but not alcohol addiction.

Question 7

State the reason for addiction in terms of stress.

Answer 7

In the short term, a person may turn to addictive substances as a way of coping with stress. Over time, this may become a regular habit and eventually result in an addiction

Question 8

How might mediating factors reduce risk of addiction in response to stress. Give an example

Answer 8

For example, if a person is under a high amount of stress but has a strong support network, this may improve their ability to cope with the stress and reduce the risk of addiction

Question 9

Describe evidence in support of historical stress as a reason for addiction.

Answer 9

Andersen and Teicher (2009) describe how stress during childhood and adolescence (a ‘sensitive period’) affects brain development, making a person more vulnerable to addiction in adulthood.

Question 10

pause part of the body

State a strength of the stress explanation for addiction in terms of feeling

Answer 10

Face plausibility: It’s easy to understand how acute stress could lead to addiction. Stress is an unpleasant feeling and addictive substances (e.g. alcohol, cigarettes, drugs) alleviate this feeling.

Question 11

students

strenght for stress - research evidence

Answer 11

, Tavolacci et al (2013) assessed stress levels of French students using a questionnaire and found that stressed students were more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol, or develop cyberaddiction.

Question 12

Strength for stress in terms of practical application

Answer 12

Understanding the link between stress and addiction can be used to reduce addiction and relapse rates. For example, doctors could measure stress levels and direct at-risk patients towards resources that help them cope with stress and reduce their risk of addiction.

Question 13

weakness for stress in terms of correlation.

Answer 13

Correlation vs. causation: Although stress and addiction are correlated, this does not automatically prove stress causes addiction. Being addicted is itself a stressful situation and so the direction of causation could go the other way: Addiction may cause stress (rather than stress causing addiction).

Question 14

describe criticism for stress in terms of other factors.

Answer 14

Although stress appears to be a risk factor for addiction, it is not the only one. The various risk factors – genetics, personality, family and peer influence – all combine to cause (or reduce the risk of) addiction.

Question 15

What is the correlation between personality and addiction?

Answer 15

Certain personality traits appear to be risk factors for developing addiction

Question 16

EYE

state one theory linking personality to addiction

Answer 16

Eysenck (1997) argues that certain personality types – such as people high in neuroticism (a tendency towards negative feelings) and psychoticism (a tendency towards aggression and impulsivity) – are more prone to addiction. According to this theory, the needs of these personality types make them more prone to addiction.

Question 17

state another theory linking persoality to addiction.

Answer 17

Cloninger’s (1987) tri-dimensional theory. According to this theory, there are three key personality traits: Response to danger, novelty seeking, and reward dependence

Question 18

what is meant by high novelty seeking?

Answer 18

People who seek new experiences and sensations are more likely to seek out and become addicted to drugs.

Question 19

what is meant by high reward dependence?

Answer 19

People who learn quickly from rewarding stimuli (i.e. the pleasant sensations of drugs) will become addicted to rewards from drugs more quickly, making them more likely to become addicts.

Question 20

what is meant by low response to danger?

Answer 20

People who are less worried about the dangers of drugs are more likely to try them and become addicted.

Question 21

What is a strength of the perosnality factor approach

Answer 21

Supporting evidence: Some studies support a connection between personality traits and addiction. For example, a meta-analysis by Howard et al (1997) found high novelty seeking was correlated with increased risk of alcohol abuse in teenagers and young adults – just as Cloninger’s tri-dimensional theory predicts.

Question 22

What is a weakness of the personality factor approach in terms of evidence?

Answer 22

Conflicting evidence for the role of personality in addiction: However, the same meta-analysis by Howard et al (1997) described above found evidence for a link between the other two traits (high reward dependence and low response to danger) and alcohol abuse was much less consistent.

Question 23

criticism for personality approach in terms of correlation

Answer 23

Although there is evidence that personality traits are correlated with addiction, this does not automatically mean that having those personality traits causes one to be at greater risk of addiction. It could be that being addicted to drugs changes one’s personality (and so the direction of causation goes the other way).

Question 24

criticism for perosnality approach in terms of other factors

Answer 24

Although personality appears to be a risk factor for addiction, it is not the only one. The various risk factors – genetics, stress, family and peer influence – all combine to cause (or reduce the risk of) addiction.

Question 25

What is the relation between family influence and addiction?

Answer 25

SLT- vicarious reinforcement-imitation of role model

perceived parental approval

Question 26

Weakness of family influence approach in terms of variation

Answer 26

Variations in family influence: Various factors, such as the age of the child and the extent to which they identify with the family member, influence the strength of family influence on addiction. For example, seeing a parent smoke at age 12 may be a greater risk factor for cigarette addiction than at age 4, when the child doesn’t understand what is going on. Similarly, if the child’s father smokes but the child identifies more with the mother, this reduces the strength of family influence.

Question 27

Describe evidence supporting family influence on addiction

Answer 27

, Livingston et al (2010) found that children whose parents allowed them to drink alcohol in their final year of high school were more likely to drink heavily the next year at college.

Another example is Akers and Lee (1996), who looked at smoking behaviours of 454 adolescents over a 5 year period. The researchers found that family influence (via social learning theory) made the children more likely to start and continue smoking cigarettes.

Question 28

Weakness of family influence approach in terms of other factors.

Answer 28

Other factors: Although family influence appears to be a risk factor for addiction, it is not the only one. The various risk factors – genetics, stress, personality, peer influence – all combine to cause (or reduce the risk of) addiction. Another factor that is relevant to social learning theory explanations is mediating processes, which are cognitive processes where a person decides whether to imitate a behaviour or not. For example, mediating processes may mean a child observes their parents smoking but decides not to imitate that behaviour.

Question 29

strength of peer influence approach to addiction

Answer 29

Evidence supporting the role of peer influence in addiction: Several studies have found correlations between addiction and having friends who are addicts. The hypothesis that having peers who use drugs will increase the likelihood that a person becomes addicted to drugs also has face plausibility: It just seems common sense

Question 30

weakness for peer influence appraoch in terms of exaggeration

Answer 30

Possibility that peer influence on addiction is exaggerated: Despite the face validity of peer influence on addiction, its influence may be exaggerated. For example, a review by Bauman and Ennett (1996) found that many studies cite peer influence as a reason for substance abuse without actually testing this claim against evidence.

Question 31

Weakness for peer influence in terms of correlation

Answer 31

Correlation vs. causation: Even if addiction and certain peer groups are correlated, it is difficult to prove which comes first. It may be the case that having peers who use drugs increases the likelihood that that person also uses and becomes addicted to drugs. But it may also be the case that people who use drugs seek out peers who also share an addiction to that drug. For example, a person with an alcohol addiction may seek out friends who like going to pubs and drinking a lot of alcohol as this enables them to indulge their addiction.