Vulnerability Factors in Addiction

Vulnerability Factors in Addiction

1. Peers

   • Research
     • Sussman and Ames- found that friend and peer use of drugs was the biggest predictor of future drug use in teenagers
     • Eiser- suggests that among adolescents, smokers tend to befriend smokers, and non smokers befriend other non smokers
   • Explained through the social learning theory-popularity is a positive reinforcement
   • Evaluation
     • Duncan- exposure to peers increases the likelihood that teens will start smoking
     • Mixed support for the social identity theory
       • Michell- evidence for the influence of group stereotypes
       • There is limited evidence for the extent of influence of stereotypes
     • It may be that people select friends with similar addictions (direction of causallity)
       • Bullers- in adults, individual drinking also predicted group drinking

2. Personality

   • Three types of personality have been linked to addiction
     • Neurotiscism- negative and unstable emotions, high anxiety and a tendancy for low moods
     • Psychoticism- cold, aggressive, impatient and impulsive
     • Extraversion- under aroused and bored, seeking external stimulation to increase cortisol arousal
     • Research
       • Gossan and Eysenck- correlations between neuroticism, psychoticism and addiction
       • Blaszcynski- replicated Gossan and Eysenck, but separated males and females. Found link between psychoticism and extraversion in males, but only psychoticism in females
   • Tri- dimensional theory
     • 3 traits that predispose individuals towards addiciton
       • Novelty seeking
       • Harm avoidance
       • Reward dependance
   • Evaluation
     • Buckholtz- some people may have hypersensitive dopamine systems
     • Implications for treatment
     • Evidence with rats
       • Belin- sensation seekers took high doses, impulsive rats took smaller doese but became addicted
     • Correlational
     • Studies into impulsivity in humans
       • Weintraub- studied patients with parkinsons disease. Drug increased dopamine, and they were more likely to become addicted

3. Stress

   • Self medication
   • Stress smoking paradox- smokers think they smoke to relieve stress, when it is actually causing them to be more stressed
     • Haven
   • Research
     • Driessen- 30% of drug addicts and 15% of alcoholics also suffer from PTSD
     • Ogden and Fox- teenage girls use smoking as weight control, indirectly reducing stress
     • Childs- people in stressful situations have more cravings
   • Evaluation
     • Colinger- individual differences
     • Doesn't actually reduce stress
       • Stress smoking paradoz

4. Age

   • Adolescents
     • Smoking can act as a gateway- to drugs or other addictions, e.g alcohol
     • Reseach
       • Shram- nicotine had a greater activating effect on the neural structure in adolescents
       • Fidlers- those who smoked before 11 were 2x more likely to be regular smokers by 14
       • Brown- influence of peers on drugs and smoke appears to wane in later adolescents- close peers and romantic relationships become more influencial
   • Older smokers
     • Helfer- 17% of women over 75 use painkillers or sleeping tablets every day, 46% of men over 75 drink daily