Risk factors in the development of addiction Flashcards
(18 cards)
Define risk factor
An internal or external factor that increases the likelihood of an individual consuming the drug or engaging in behaviour.
What are the 5 risk factors?
1) Genetic vulnerability
2) Peers
3) Stress
4) Personality
5) Family influences
AO1: Genetic vulnerability
Some people inherit a genetic vulnerability which can explain why some people have addictions and others do not. Genetic vulnerability is explained as an interaction between genes and the environment. An individual will not become addicted unless they are exposed to the substance or give the opportunity.
D2 receptors are responsible fro communicating with the neurotransmitter dopamine which is associated with pleasure and reward. The number of D2 receptors is determined by out genetics. Those with less D2 receptors are more likely to become addicted as they get less pleasure from everyday activities such as chocolate. Therefore, they turn to more addictive substances e.g. nicotine to gain pleasure and compensate deficiency leading to addiction through repeated use of addictive behaviour.
A persons rate of metabolism is inherited through the genes. Some people can metabolise addictive substances faster than other meaning they need more of the substance to have the sae effects increasing addiction and overuse.
What are the evaluations for GV? (2)
1) RTS adopted study
2) Correlational research
AO3: GV - RTS Adopted study
RTS comes from a study looking at National Swedish Adoption study. They looked at adults who had been adopted as children where their biological families had at least one addicted parent. They found that there was a significantly greater chance of them developing an addiction compared to a control group where the adopted child had no addicted parent in their biological family. This shows an inheritance of genes cam predispose someone to addiction. Increasing the validity.
AO3: GV - Correlational
A weakness is that it is based on correlational research. This is because cause and affect can’t be established. There is a link between risk factors such as genetics and addiction, but it doesn’t show which comes first. For example an addiction can cause abnormalities in D2 receptors. Therefore the research lacks internal validity.
AO1: Stress
Stress is a state of arousal where an individual believes they have an inability to cope with the perceives threat. People who experience stress turn the addictive substances/behaviour as a form of self medication. Periods of chronic/long lasting stress and traumatic experiences in childhood increases there risk of addiction. Research has shows that early experiences of severe stress have damaging effects on the young brain during sensitive periods of development and can create a vulnerability to stress. Further stressful experiences in later life can trigger the vulnerability so the person is more likely to turn to self medicate with addictive substances or behaviour.
What is the evaluation for stress?
Correlational
AO3: Stress - correlational
A weakness is that the research is correlational so cause and effect can’t be established. We don’t know whether the addiction causes stress (effects on their job, loss of money, lack of sleep) or whether stress (actual or perceived ability to cope) causes addiction. This lowers the internal validity
AO1: Personality
Psychologists agree there is no such thing as an addictive personality but there are certain traits that increase the likelihood of developing an addiction. It is suggested that anti social personality disorder (impulsivity and rule breaking) increases the vulnerability to addiction. There are three innate dimensions which are associated with addiction in drug and alcohol abuse. This is measured through a question. Novelty seeking is the tendency to get intensely excited in a response to a new stimulus so they peel new more extreme experiences e.g. trying addictive substances or behaviour. Inhibited harm avoidance is the lack of inhibitions , worry or fear e.g. ignoring the consequences of addictive behaviour or substances.
What are the evaluations? (2)
1) RTS - novelty seeking
2) Correlational
AO3: Persoanlity - RTS novelty seeking
RTS personality as a risk factor for addiction comes from Schneider et al. He found that novelty seeking is the trait that’s most associated with the involvement of cocaine, cannabis and alcohol. Further research has shown there is a positive correlation between relapse rates and novelty seeking for several drugs of abuse amongst addicts. This supports that certain personality traits mean people are more likely to engage in or consume addictive substances. This incases the validity.
AO3: Personality Correlational
A weakness of the research is that it is correlational as it is hard to establish cause and affect for example once we become addicted we may take more risks, be more reward dependent and engage in novelty seeking. As the research is retrospective we are unable to tell whether personality trait or adduction comes first. This lowers the interval validity as we cant conclude that personality increases the risk of addiction.
AO1: Family influences
Family influences can affect an individuals thoughts, behaviours and feelings through development. One family influence that increases the vulnerability to addiction is perceived social approval. If an adolescent believes that their family member has a positive view towards addictive behaviour/substance they will become mire vulnerable to addiction. For example final year high school students who were allowed by their parents to drink alcohol at home were more let to excessively drink alcohol at college. Additionally those who believe their family members have little importance for monitoring behaviour are more likely to increase vulnerability to addiction. Further more expos reuse within family life creates a risk of developing addiction as social learning theory can also play a role. An individual could observe a family member (role model) engaging in behaviour/substance so they are more likely to imitate them as they identify with them and believe they have the same status.
AO3: RTS Cannabis
RTS family influence as a risk factor for developing addiction comes from Madras et al. They studied family where the parents used cannabis. She found a strong positive correlation between the parents use of cannabis and the adolescents use of cannabis, alcohol, nicotine and opioids. This supports that the adolescents believe their parents were accepting of drug use so the used themselves. It could also be because they observed their parents use cannabis so they imitated this behaviour. This increases the validity.
AO1: Peers
An individuals peers are people who share the same interests, age, background and social status. Peers can influence development as they spend more time with them their family. Psychologists argue that peers act as gateways for addictive behaviour. Research suggests that adolescents are at risk of developing alcohol addiction due to their peers because of three elements. Attitudes and norms to drinking - the attitudes can be influenced by peers who drink alcohol by NSI and ISI. Opportunities to drink alcohol - more experienced peers provide more opportunities to drink to at risk individuals. Individuals perception - the at risk individual may ever estimate how much peers drink so they will drink more to keep up.
AO3: Peers - Correlational
A weakness is that the research is correlational as it is hard to establish cause and effect. For example we don’t know whether people seek peers who have a similar addiction to them e.g. alcohol and drug misuse rather than peers and norms making them engage in addictive behaviour. Research has shown a link between peers and addiction but we don’t know which comes first. Lowers internal validity.
What is the practical application for each risk factor?
1) Genetic vulnerability - Identifying those with GV may indicate who’s at risk of developing addiction and can be used to develop individual intervention programmes
2) Personality - Identifying those with APD may indicate who’s at risk of developing an addiction and could be used to develop individual intervention programme
3) Stress - Interventions to help people manage with stress
4) Peers - social norms marketing advertising uses mass media to advertise how much young people really drink so it is not seen as the norm.
5) Family influences - Greater levels of parental monitoring to reduce likelihood of addiction
