Stress

• How do high levels of stress lead to addiction?


  Turning to addictive substances give a temporary relief as a form of a coping mechanism
• Wan Sen Yan et al (2013)


  Aimed to examine whether there was a relationship between between stress, personality traits and family functioning in the development of an internet adiction
• How many participants were in Wan Sen Yan et al's study?


  892 - 407 males and 485 females
• How did Wan Sen Yan et al investigate his research into the relationship between stress and internet addiction?


  Psychometric tests,demographic characteristics, family functioning, personality and stress
• Wan Sen Yan et al' findings


  10% of students had a severe internet addiction (significantly higher levels of stress than all other participants )

  12% had a mild addiction (higher levels of stress than non-addicts)
• Limitations of Wan-Sen Yan et al's research (AO3)


  - Study is correctional, causal relationship cannot be established

  - 16% of participants did not complete their data sets

  —> affects results as severely addicted individuals would be les likely to truthfully fill out the survey
• Practical application for stress as a risk factor


  - Using stress scales as vulnerability measures in people with addiction issues

  - Identify triggers for addictive behaviours, as well as being a predictor for relapse
• Explanation for higher rates of addiction in cities -


  - Higher levels of stress in cities

  - However, could be due to drugs being more readily available in cities
• What form of personality is said to result in higher levels of addicts?


  Pathological personality -negative and fine life more stressful than most