personality & social influences

personality as a risk factor

• People with pathological personalities may be at risk for addiction

  • Sufferers may be vulnerable to addiction because the addictive substance or behaviour offer them relief from their negativity

  • People with a pathological personality may be more stressed and find life difficult, and so the temporary high gained from the substance/behaviour would increase their likelihood of doing it

• Some psychologists have proposed an addictive personality as a risk factor, with high neuroticism levels predisposing to addictions (Eysenck 1997)

• High levels of psychoticism have also been linked to addiction, as the pleasurable feelings associated with substance dependence help reduce feelings of aggression and emotional detachment (Eysenck 1997)

tri-dimensional theory of addictive behaviour (Cloninger 1987)

• People who were inclined to be addicted had imbalances in three temperament dimensions

  • Harm avoidance - the amount that a person worries and sees the negative elements of a situation, making them cautious, apprehensive, and likely to avoid risky behaviours

  • Novelty seeking - an individual will actively and impulsively seek new environments and exciting experiences

  • Reward dependence - a strong need for approval and social attachments, being motivated by the anticipation of positive outcomes

research which investigates personality as a risk factor

• Howard et al. (1997)

  • Conducted a meta-analysis of research investigating Cloninger’s tri-dimensional theory and found that novelty seeking predicted alcohol abuse, but harm avoidance and reward dependence had a less consistent relationship with addiction

• Ivanov et al. (2008)

  • Found that many studies show a link between impulsivity and addiction, possibly because they share a neurological or genetic basis

family & peer influences on addiction - social learning

• When the child observes family role models enjoying smoking and/or drinking alcohol, the child learns through watching the enjoyment of the experience (vicarious reinforcement) that it is a positive and pleasurable thing to do

• Social learning theory can explain how the imitation of family role models may constitute a risk factor for addiction

family & peer influences on addiction - expectancies

• These are schemas formed from learning and experience in the family environment, which allow the child to predict their parents’ reaction if the child tries these addictive substances

• Expectancies explain how the perception of family approval of the behaviour can be a risk factor e.g. ‘My parents are cool with me smoking’

• If a child believes their parents approve of an addictive behaviour by engaging in it themselves, then the child feels free to try the activity, as they do not fear disapproval

peer influences on addiction

• Peer influence is potentially a great risk factor for addiction, as the same principles of social learning and expectancies apply as with family influence

• Peer pressure has been linked to first-time use of nicotine and recreational drugs, especially in adolescence

influence of stress on addiction

• Chronic stress may increase the likelihood of someone becoming addicted to substances and behaviours that give temporary relief as a way of coping with the stress

• If a person has good social support, then this can reduce the likelihood of stress resulting in addiction

• The stress associated with poverty and overcrowded living conditions can increase the likelihood of a person turning to addictive substances

research which investigates social influences as risk factors

• Bonomo et al. (2001)

  • Found that teenagers who had experienced an alcohol-related injury were significantly more likely than others to have parents who drank alcohol daily

• Livingston et al. (2010)

  • Found that final-year high school students who were allowed by their parents to drink alcohol at home were significantly more likely to drink excessively the following year at college

• Epstein et al. (1998)

  • Found a strong correlation between incidence of childhood rape and adult alcohol addiction, but only for women diagnosed with PTSD

  • This suggests a child will only have an addiction problem if they have a vulnerability and a later stressful situation

strengths of personality & social influences as risk factors

• Research evidence suggests that certain personality traits have high predictive validity with regards to addictive behaviour, lending support to the theories of Eysenck (1997) and Cloninger (1987)

• Identifying risk factors, such as the influence of family and peers, can lead to educational campaigns in schools to help reduce the start of substance dependence in vulnerable teenagers, showing that research on risk factors has real-life applications

  • E.g. Tobler et al. (2000) created a peer pressure resistance training programme to prevent young people taking up smoking

weaknesses of personality & social influences as risk factors

• There are interactions between all risk factors - combinations matter more than single risk factors, and these determine the nature and severity of an addiction

  • Some risk factors can be protective e.g. certain personality traits and family/peer influences make addiction less likely

  • Therefore, the path to addiction is much more complex than suggesting one risk factor is more important than the other

• Research into risk factors is correlational

  • E.g. the correlation between stressful poverty and addiction is not always clear in which one is a cause or a symptom

  • E.g. in the correlation between peer influence and addiction, it could be that adolescents who are already vulnerable to drug use are likely to be attracted to deviant peer groups

links of personality & social influences on addiction to issues & debates

• Both explanations suggest a deterministic view of addiction - that individuals may be predisposed to addictive behaviour

  • This challenges ideas of personal responsibility and free will, particularly in public health and treatment approaches

• The personality approach is psychologically reductionist, focusing narrowly on traits while ignoring social and situational factors

  • A holistic perspective is more appropriate, recognising that addiction is likely the result of an interaction between multiple risk factors (biological, psychological, social)