Factors affecting addictive behaviour

Risk factors
1. Stress - self medication model, used because of perceived stress relief response - coping with daily hassles
  1. NIDA - stressors lead initiation, maintenance & relapse even after long periods of abstinence
    1. Suffers of PTSD more vulnerable due to extreme stress i.e parental loss/child abuse
  2. Driessen et al - 30% drug addicts & 15% alcoholics suffer PTSD
  3. Kook et al - stress reponse is an anti-reward system. Substance abuse leads to dopamine release. Cortico-trophic releasing factor (CRF) secreted by pituitary gland - maintains homeostasis, decreasing dopamine
    1. Constant CRF release turns homeostasis to allostasis, increasing hedonic set point, dopamine doesn't give pleasure
      1. Leads to anhedonia - no pleasure from normal activities
    2. Periods between smoking stressful. Desire for another can cause mental strain
  4. Cloniger - two types of alcoholics type 1 - to reduce anxiety, type 2 - to reduce boredom (more risk takers). Stress a vulnerability to type 1, not all
2. Peers - peer pressure may explain initiation of addictive behaviour
  1. SLT - observing & imitating others initiates behaviour. Own experiences will determine if behaviour continues
    1. Duncan et al - exposure to peer models increases likelihood of smoking
    2. Eiser et al - social status & popularity important rewards
  2. SIT - group members adopt behaviours of the group. If smoking a key behaviour - its more likely to be picked up
  3. Sussman & Ames - peer drug use best predictor of future use
3. Age
  1. Brown et al - peer pressure on drug use & smoking decreases in later adolescence, close friends & romantic partners more important
  2. Prefrontal cortex not developed till 20's - involved in weighing up risks
    1. Diamond - if you're not a smoker by 21 you're unlikely to ever be
    2. Shram - adolescence more sensitive to nicotine & less likely to suffer consequences
  3. Majority of research only into young people, not representative sample
    1. Swiss health survey - 46% men > 75 drank daily, only 6% 25-34 drank daily
  4. Research in socially sensitive topic creates ethical issues. Threat of sanction from incriminating evidence may prevent some people coming forward. Pros & cons - further discrimination
4. Personality - addictive personality explains why not everyone becomes addicted
  1. Eysenck - 3 personality types that may make you more vulnerable
    1. Psychoticism - aggressive, cold, impulsive, egocentric
    2. Neuroticism - moody, irritable, anxious
    3. Extraversion - sociable, lively, optimistic, seeks stimulation for brain arousal
    4. Gosspo & Eysenck - assessed 200 London polydrug users. Significant correlation between P, N & addiction
    5. Belin et al - sensation seeking rats took higher doses of cocaine than impulsive rats, but impulsive rats became addicted
    6. Some personality traits common in addicts, does not mean it causes addictive behaviour
      1. Teeson et al - difficult to disentangle effects of personality & addiction - showing causality
  2. Weintraub et al - Parkinson's individuals treated with dopamine. x3.5 increase in impulse-control disorders including gambling & sex addiction - dopamine leads to impulsivity causing addiction
    1. Buckholtz et al - more hypersensitive dopamine response - heightened response to anticipated reward
Media influences
1. Film representation
  1. Sulkunen - 61 scenes from 47 films for addictive behaviour. Enjoyment of drugs contrasted to dullness of reality. Drug competence shown as fixing issues. Human Traffic - extacy used to deal with relationship issues
  2. Waylen et al - 360 top box office films from 2001-2005. Teens watching films where actors smoked, more likely to start smoking even after controlling factors significant correlation was found
  3. Gunasekera 85 most popular films in the last 20 years drug use in films 8% cannabis, 32% alcohol, 68% tobacco, 1/53 sex scenes had condom reference, 1/4 films free of negative effects of substances
    1. Byrne - films educates addicts & the general population on addiction by creating stereotypes
      1. Ideas about ECT from one flew over the cuckoo's nest, not royal college of psychiatrist literature
  4. Sargent et al - 11-15 year olds who started smoking a year after initial questionnaire found films played a significant predictor
  5. Boyd - addicts usually represented negatively, dirty bodies, sexual degradation, violence, crime & loss of morals
  6. US guidelines developed for script writers on drug use. Should be shown as unhealthy & harmful. Addiction is a disease. No reference to drug use being recreational
2. Media changing addictive behaviour
  1. TV & internet being used to promote healthy lifestyle. pablo the drug mule dog - satirical series of advert
  2. Bennett et al - BBC programme psst... the really useful guide to alcohol improved knowledge but no affect on behaviour
  3. Kramer et al - drinking less? do it yourself! found to improve an intervention group more successful than control in low risk problem drinking. Maintained at 3 month follow-up
    1. Weekly visits to intervention group may have produces positive outcome
    2. Control group knew they'd be treated soon, prolonged behaviour till then
  4. Brian Wilson (the Beach Boys) used drugs for creative influence. Became addicted and no longer part of creative process and used as a form of self medication for pressures of touring & writing. Competitive environment drives individuals to drug use
  5. Most data is correlational - does not show causality
  6. Hornik et al - $1 billion US anti-drug campaign failed & had negative effect. Message not novel - implicit messages drug use is common
    1. Johnston et al - teens who watched the adverts took from it their peers were using weed - more likely to try themselves

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Factors affecting addictive behaviour

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	Created by Brendan Williams about 11 years ago