What are the two plausible direct mechanisms that create a genetic vulnerability to addiction?
Dopamine receptors and metabolism (nicotine enzyme)
Explain effect of dopamine receptors?
Dopaminetransmission is affected by the number of dopamine receptors you have and this number is geneticallycontrolled. People are are addicted have been found to have an abnormally low number of D2 receptors (type of dopamine receptor). Fewer receptors means less dopamineactivity, so using drugs is a way of compensating for this deficiency
Explain effect of metabolism on addiction
Some individuals are able to metabolise certain substances and this is linked to addiction. People who lack a fully functioning nicotine metabolising enzyme also smoke significantly less than those with a fully functioning version. Expression of such enzymes are geneticallydetermined
Example of metabolism varying amongst races
Europeans metabolise alcohol quickly so they do not feel drunk (therefore may drink more) whereas 50 % of Asians metabolise slowly. They may feel nauseas after drinking a small amount of alcohol
Kendler et al. looked at adults who had been adopted away as children, from biological families where at least one parent had an addiction. These children later had a significantly greater risk of developing addiction themselves compared to adoptees with no biological parent who was addicted to a substance
Twinstudies have found that concordance rate for addiction amongst monozygotic twins was more than twice as high as dizygotic twins (Slutske et al.)
Types of stress that may result in addiction
Chronic events (long-term), severe acute stress (one-off), traumaticchildhood event
Teicher et al. highlighted the role of traumatic childhood experiences in later addiction as it has damaging effects on a young brian in a sensitiveperiod of development. This creates a vulnerability to later stress making it more likely for such a person to self medicate or other behavioural addictions to cope
Kessler et al. found that men and women with a history of PTSD were more likely to be addicted compared to those without
What is a limitation of research into stress as a riskfactor?
Causation cannot be established as studies are correlational
What personality is addiction linked to?
Disorderedpersonality
Psychologists found that most people with antisocialpersonalitydisorder (APD) are also addicted substance abusers
It can be argued that antisocial personality disorder is a causal risk factor for addiction because it means a person is more likely to break socialnorms, is impulsive and may behave criminally, including trying drugs at a young age
There is research support for the link between addiction and APD
Studies have shown that APD and alcohol dependence are co-morbid.Bahlmann found that participants who were alcohol dependent had developed APD 4years before their alcohol dependency, on average.
What are two elements of family influence?
Sociallearningtheory (parents as social models) and parentingstyles
How does social learning theory link to development of addiction?
The child/adolescent observes their parents smoking or drinking and the results of that behaviour (feeling relax or experience pleasure). The individual then imitates the behaviour to get the same result. Over time and repeated exposure, addiction develops (vicariouslearning)
Reith and Debbie found that gambling knowledge and behaviour was passed within families in gendered ways. Males were more likely to engage in sportsbetting whereas females in machines and bingos
How does parenting style link to addiction?
Perceived parental approval. Adolescents who believe that their partners have little/no interest in monitoring their behaviour are more likely to develop an addiction
Livingston et al. found that high school students who were allowed to drink alcohol at home were significantly more likely to drink excessively the following year at college
Madras et al. found a strong correlation between parent’s use of cannabis and child’s use of cannabis,alcohol and nicotine
What are the three major elements to peer influence according to O’Connell et al.?
1.An at-risk adolescents attitudes and norms about drinking are influenced by associating with peers who use alcohol. 2. These experienced peers provide opportunities for the at-risk individual to use alcohol. 3. The individual overestimates how much their peers are drinking, which means they drink more to keep up with the perceivednorm
How does knowledge on the influence of peers have real world application?
Socialnormsmarketingadvertising (SNMA) is an intervention to change mistaken beliefs about how much peers are drinking. It uses massmedia advertising to provide messages and statistics about how much people really drink
It is estimated that students overestimate what others drink by 44 %