Factors affecting addictive behaviour

Factors affecting addictive behaviour

1. Risk factors

   • Stress - self medication model, used because of perceived stress relief response - coping with daily hassles
     • NIDA - stressors lead initiation, maintenance & relapse even after long periods of abstinence
       • Suffers of PTSD more vulnerable due to extreme stress i.e parental loss/child abuse
     • Driessen et al - 30% drug addicts & 15% alcoholics suffer PTSD
     • 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
       • Constant CRF release turns homeostasis to allostasis, increasing hedonic set point, dopamine doesn't give pleasure
         • Leads to anhedonia - no pleasure from normal activities
       • Periods between smoking stressful. Desire for another can cause mental strain
     • 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
   • Peers - peer pressure may explain initiation of addictive behaviour
     • SLT - observing & imitating others initiates behaviour. Own experiences will determine if behaviour continues
       • Duncan et al - exposure to peer models increases likelihood of smoking
       • Eiser et al - social status & popularity important rewards
     • SIT - group members adopt behaviours of the group. If smoking a key behaviour - its more likely to be picked up
     • Sussman & Ames - peer drug use best predictor of future use
   • Age
     • Brown et al - peer pressure on drug use & smoking decreases in later adolescence, close friends & romantic partners more important
     • Prefrontal cortex not developed till 20's - involved in weighing up risks
       • Diamond - if you're not a smoker by 21 you're unlikely to ever be
       • Shram - adolescence more sensitive to nicotine & less likely to suffer consequences
     • Majority of research only into young people, not representative sample
       • Swiss health survey - 46% men > 75 drank daily, only 6% 25-34 drank daily
     • Research in socially sensitive topic creates ethical issues. Threat of sanction from incriminating evidence may prevent some people coming forward. Pros & cons - further discrimination
   • Personality - addictive personality explains why not everyone becomes addicted
     • Eysenck - 3 personality types that may make you more vulnerable
       • Psychoticism - aggressive, cold, impulsive, egocentric
       • Neuroticism - moody, irritable, anxious
       • Extraversion - sociable, lively, optimistic, seeks stimulation for brain arousal
       • Gosspo & Eysenck - assessed 200 London polydrug users. Significant correlation between P, N & addiction
       • Belin et al - sensation seeking rats took higher doses of cocaine than impulsive rats, but impulsive rats became addicted
       • Some personality traits common in addicts, does not mean it causes addictive behaviour
         • Teeson et al - difficult to disentangle effects of personality & addiction - showing causality
     • 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
       • Buckholtz et al - more hypersensitive dopamine response - heightened response to anticipated reward

2. Media influences

   • Film representation
     • 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
     • 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
     • 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
       • Byrne - films educates addicts & the general population on addiction by creating stereotypes
         • Ideas about ECT from one flew over the cuckoo's nest, not royal college of psychiatrist literature
     • Sargent et al - 11-15 year olds who started smoking a year after initial questionnaire found films played a significant predictor
     • Boyd - addicts usually represented negatively, dirty bodies, sexual degradation, violence, crime & loss of morals
     • 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
   • Media changing addictive behaviour
     • TV & internet being used to promote healthy lifestyle. pablo the drug mule dog - satirical series of advert
     • Bennett et al - BBC programme psst... the really useful guide to alcohol improved knowledge but no affect on behaviour
     • 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
       • Weekly visits to intervention group may have produces positive outcome
       • Control group knew they'd be treated soon, prolonged behaviour till then
     • 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
     • Most data is correlational - does not show causality
     • Hornik et al - $1 billion US anti-drug campaign failed & had negative effect. Message not novel - implicit messages drug use is common
       • Johnston et al - teens who watched the adverts took from it their peers were using weed - more likely to try themselves