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Addiction - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Research support- Stead et al, NRT is an effective treatment for nicotine addiction with 70% still abstaining from smoking after 6 months
      - Side effects- side effects of treatment for gum baking addiction are serious because the dose required is very high. NRT has less serious side effects, could lead to giving up treatment
      - Limited treatment- addicts with chaotic lifestyles are no organised enough to take a drug every day, often dropping out of treatment and research
      - Removal of stigma- explaining drug addiction as medical or biological condition helps to counter the view that it is somehow the addicts fault
      - Individual differences- small genetic variations between individuals have a big impact on the effectiveness of drug treatments
  - - - Methodological problems with studies of aversion therapy- effectiveness studies are poor quality, especially because they are not blinded so researchers know who gets the therapy and the placebo
      - Treatment adherence issues- shocks and vomiting are very unpleasant and normally avoided, so patients are more likely to drop out of treatment. Therefore difficult to assess treatment effectiveness
      - Research support for covert sensitisation- McConaughy et al, found 90% of gambling or gambling less one year after therapy compared with 30% success for aversion therapy
      - Short term versus long term effectiveness- McConaghy et al, aversion therapy has more success over one month than one year
      - Ethical issues- aversion therapy is potentially dangerous and involves serious loss o9f dignity. Covert sensitization is less ethically objectionable
  - - - Research support- Petry et al, high quality study found that gamblers who had CBT sessions were gambling less than controls one year later
      - Short term versus long term gains- Cowlishaw et al, CBT is very effective in the short term but less so after more than a year, studies methodologically poor
      - Lack of treatment adherence- dropout rates are greater in CBT than in other therapies because it is demanding, even clients who continue take it less seriously
      - Relapse prevention- CBT is good at preventing relapse because it does not see it as failure but as an opportunity for further development
      - What works?- CBT uses so many different techniques that it is difficult to understand what working and what doesn't work
- - - - Supporting research evidence- McEvoy et al- people taking antipsychotics medication are often heavy smokers, possibly because it gives them the dopamine release that their mediation inhibits
      - Real life application- understanding neurochemistry could lead to better treatments not just for nicotine addiction but for comorbid disorders (depression)
      - Limited explanation- other mechanical mechanisms (serotonin) are involved in nicotine addiction, although dopamine is central
      - A reductionist explanation- neurochemical explanations ignore psychosocial factors (peer influence) that are at least as important (Choi et al)
      - Individual difference- Chippers smoke for decades without developing dependency, which is difficult for neurochemical theories to explain
  - - - Support from non-human animal studies- Levin et al, rats self administer nicotine more frequently when given the opportunity so nicotine is a positive reinforcer
      - Research support from cue reactivity- Carter and Tiffany, meta analysis shows that smokers have physiological and psychological responses to smoking cues
      - Real life application- aversion therapy to counter condition nicotine addiction. Smith found 52% abstinence
      - Gender difference- women are more sensitive to smoking related cues, so find it harder to give up, or they may lack self efficacy (confidence and control over own behaviours)
      - Limited explanation- only about 50% of smokers become dependant on nicotine, suggesting that other factors involved apart from conditioning
- - - - Support from research evidence- Dickerson, high frequency delay placing their bets until the last moment to enhance arousal and thrill
      - Lack of explanatory power- learning theories find it harder to explain addiction to games of skill where there is a delay between placing a bet and knowing the outcome
      - Individual differences- Griffiths and Delfabbo- variations in how and why people gamble are difficult for learning theories unless cognitive element included
      - Limited pleasanton- conditioning processes are relatively less important as some points of the gambling cycle (how it veins in the first place)
      - Explains failure to stop gambling- coniting does not require drive decision making so cna explain why gamblers fail to give up even when consciously motivated to do so
  - - - Research support- Michalczuk et al, addicted gamblers show higher levels of distorted thinking and impulsivity and prefer immediate rewards even if they are small
      - Explains automatic behaviour McCusker and Gettings- gamblers have an automatic cognitive bias to pay attention to gambling related information without being aware of it
      - Individual differences- cognitive biases can't explain all differences in gambling behaviour, personality plays a role (control motivation)
      - Real Life applications- cognitive biases can be treated with CBT, may also have underlying neurochemistry which can be treated
      - Methodology issues- what gambling addicts sat when thinking aloud may not reflect what they really think