Risk Factors

• Genetic Vulnerability:

  :) RTS Kendler

  > used data from the National Swedish Adoption Study - looked at adults who had been adopted from biological families in which at least one person had an addiction

  > these children later had a significantly greater risk of developing an addiction, compared to adopted individuals with no addicted parent

  > gives validity to genetic vulnerability as a risk factor
• Genetic Vulnerability:

  :( correlational research

  > research has shown a link between risk factors, such as genetics, and addiction but does not show which came first e.g. addiction could cause abnormalities in D2 receptors - cause and effect cannot be established

  > research lacks internal validity
• Stress:

  :( correlational research

  > could be that addiction causes stress (through loss of money or effects on job) rather than stress causing addiction

  > cause and effect cannot be established

  > research lacks internal validity
• Personality:

  :) RTS Schneider

  > found that novelty seeking was the trait most associated with increased involvement with alcohol, cannabis and cocaine

  > research has demonstrated a positive correlation between novelty seeking and relapse rates

  > gives validity to theory that a novelty seeking personality increases vulnerability to addiction

  discussion - novelty seeking seems more important than the other two dimensions
• Personality:

  :( correlational research

  > could be that someone develops an addiction which causes them to take more risks, be more reward dependent or novelty seeking - research is done retrospectively so does not show which came first

  > cause and effect cannot be established

  > research lacks internal validity
• Family Influences:

  :) RTS Madras

  > studied families with adolescents, where the parents used cannabis - found a strong positive correlation between parent's use of cannabis and adolescents use of cannabis, nicotine, alcohol and opioids

  > adolescents may have perceived that parent was accepting of drug use so used drugs themselves, or observed their parent's drug use and modelled this behaviour
• Peers:

  :( correlational research

  > research has shown a link between peers and addiction, but does not show which came first e.g. addiction could cause an individual to seek out peers who share the same addictive behaviours, rather than their peers making them engage in addictive behaviour

  > cause and effect cannot be established

  > research lacks internal validity
• Risk Factors - Practical Applications:

  > all risk factors have practical applications

  > genetics - identifying those with a genetic vulnerability could be used to develop intervention programmes

  > peers - social norms marketing advertising, so addiction is not seen as the 'norm'

  > stress - interventions

  > personality - intervention programmes

  > family - greater levels of parental monitoring