Risk Factors in Development of an Addiction

Question 1

genetic vulnerability

Answer 1

• as opposed to an addiction being inherited, it is rather a predisposition, or vulnerability to a dependency on drugs
• if a person never takes drugs, they will not become addicted, and whether they do or not is mostly down to psychological factors
• genes come in once someone has taken a drug and affects whether they will become dependent on them or not

Question 2

two genetic mechanisms involved in addiction

Answer 2

dopamine and metabolism

Question 3

genetic vulnerability - dopamine

Answer 3

• how dopamine communicates in the brain is dependent on the presence of dopamine receptors on the surface of neurons
• there are two types of dopamine receptor and abnormally low numbers of these is thought to be linked to addiction

Question 4

genetic vulnerability - metabolism

Answer 4

• some people are more able to metabolise certain substances more than others, which is linked to addiction

Question 5

genetic vulnerability - Pianezza et al. (1998)

Answer 5

• found that some people lacked a fully functioning enzyme, CYP2A6, which is responsible for metabolising nicotine
• he also found that people without this enzyme smoke significantly less than those with one
• therefore, people with a fully functioning CYP2A6 enzyme are more likely and at a greater risk of developing a nicotine addiction

Question 6

genetic vulnerability - difference in addiction by race

Answer 6

• research finds that 50% of Asians metabolise alcohol slower than Europeans
• since alcohol isn’t broken down, they feel sick, so are less likely to drink a lot and become addicted

Question 7

Stress

Answer 7

• periods of long-lasting, chronic stress and traumatic life events in childhood are linked to an increased risk of developing an addiction

Question 8

Stress - Epstein et al. (1998)

Answer 8

• examined data from National Women’s Study, and found a strong correlation between childhood rape incidents and adult addiction, but only for those diagnosed with PTSD
• there is therefore not an inevitable relationship between trauma and developing an addiction
• a vulnerability e.g. early abuse, and a later stressor e.g. PTSD, must be in place for a person to develop an addictive problem

Question 9

Stress - Andersen and Teicher (2008)

Answer 9

• suggest that damage to brain can occur in a sensitive period of development if some experiences of stress are severe enough
• this therefore creates a vulnerability for addiction in later life

Question 10

Personality

Answer 10

• Butler and Montgomery (2004) suggest that there isn’t such thing as an addictive personality, but there are certain individual traits e.g. hostility and neuroticism, which may be linked with it

Question 11

Personality - APD

Answer 11

• Anti-social personality disorder has been found to have the strongest correlation with addiction-related behaviours
• a key personality-related risk factor which comes with APD is impulsivity, marked by a lack of planning and a high degree of risk-taking and a chaotic lifestyle
• a person with APD requires immediate gratification of their desires

Question 12

Personality - Ivanov et al. (2008)

Answer 12

• he concluded though his analysis of previous research that many studies strongly support the link between impulsivity and addiction
• this could possibly be because they share a neurological basis

Question 13

Family Influence

Answer 13

• the most consistently reliable risk factors out of all the ways that family influence may create a vulnerability to addiction is perceived parental approval
• this is the extent to which an adolescent believes that their parents have a positive attitude towards a particular drug or addictive behaviour

Question 14

Family Influence - Livingston et al. (2010)

Answer 14

• found that high school students in their final year who were allowed to drink by their parent were significantly more likely to drink excessively when at college the next year

Question 15

Family Influence - lack of interest in behaviour

Answer 15

• as well, if an adolescent believes that their parents have little to no interest in their behaviour this also make them more likely to drink and develop an addiction

Question 16

Family influence - exposure

Answer 16

• this is another factor in the development of addiction, with adolescents more likely to drink alcohol if from a family who drink it everyday

Question 17

Family Influence - ‘percieved’

Answer 17

• in actuality, the parents would not condone excessive alcohol consumption, but the child just perceives this to be the case based on their actions
• this goes for all other types of addiction e.g. gambling, drugs, etc.

Question 18

Peers

Answer 18

• peers can be the most important psychosocial factor for older children, even over taking family influence, since adolescents will spend more time with friends than their parents

Question 19

Peers - O’Connell et al. (2009)

Answer 19

• suggests that there are three major elements which act as risk factors for alcohol addiction within peer influence

Question 20

Peers - 3 risk factor elements

Answer 20

1. attitudes and norms
   - if an at-risk adolescence t sees drinking a lot as normal because all of their friends do it, they will be influenced to do the same thing
2. opportunities
   - if an adolescent is surrounded by peers who drink or smoke or do drugs, those things will become more accessible to them and more opportunities to try these things will be presented
3. over-estimation
   - an adolescent may over-estimate how much their peers are actually drinking, so they will drink more to keep up with the group and the perceived norm

Question 21

(+) Genetic Vulnerability EVAL - research support

Answer 21

• Kendler et al. (2012) looked at data from the National Swedish Adoption Study, focusing particularly on adults who had been adopted away as children from biological families in which at least one parent had an addiction
• these individuals had a significantly greater risk of developing some kind of addiction
• there was an 8.6% risk of developing an addiction for kids from a household with addicted parents, compared to a 4.2% risk for kids with biological parents with no addiction history
• strong evidence to support the role of genetic vulnerability as an important risk factors

Question 22

(+) Genetic Vulnerability EVAL - indirect effects

Answer 22

• genetic factors may play a non-direct role in increasing the risk of developing an addiction, by determining certain addiction-related behavioural characteristics
• e.g. ability to regulate emotions and self-control may be at least somewhat genetically determined
• an individual who is unable to control their behaviour very well may find it difficult to concentrate on homework tasks and in school, and someone not doing well in this environment may get caught in a downward spiral of negative attitudes, poor reputation and low achievement
• they may then gravitate to peers with similar characteristics, leading to involvement in drugs
• support for genetic vulnerability as risk factor

Question 23

EVAL - interactions between all risk factors

Answer 23

• there isn’t just one risk factor which solely causes addiction, rather a combination of factors
• Mayes and Suchman (2006) highlight that different risk factor combinations partially determine the nature and severity of an addiction
• all of the risk factors can also be protective, meaning some personality traits, family influences, peer influences and genetic vulnerability may make addiction less likely
• there are therefore many pathways to addiction and not just one risk factor alone

Question 24

(-) EVAL - cause and effect

Answer 24

• a lot of the research into risk factors finds correlations, which raises questions and issues of cause and effects
• many studies show a strong association between stressful experiences and addiction behaviour, but many addictions can create greater stress levels due to negative effects it has on life
• therefore it is difficult to separate out effects of one upon the other
• Vaughn (2013) says that risk factors aren’t in and of themselves causes, but instead correlated unless tested as such

Question 25

EVAL - proximate and ultimate risk factors

Answer 25

• some risk factors may be partially genetically determined
• Ray et al. (2009) demonstrated that novelty-seeking, which is when an individual continually craves new experiences, may be linked to genetic markers for the D4 dopamine receptors
• novelty-seekers are also shown to be more likely to become problematic drug users, which may be because they are more sensitive to dopamine’s rewarding effects, brought on by drug use
• to fully understand the role of risk factors and help people with addictions we must look further back in the chain of influence to the ultimate risk factor, which in most cases is genetic
• Genetic vulnerability has ultimate influence over all of the others, which means that it may be the most significant risk factor