Transcript Day 14: Substance Use Eitology

Announcements
 Truth, Lies & Addiction: Secrets of the Tobacco
Industry by Dr. Victor DeNoble

Wednesday, 10/17 12-1:00 Conoco Phillips Alumni Center
 Psychology Club Ice Cream Social on Wednesday,
10/17 5 p.m. on Kerr-Drummond Lawn
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Free hot dogs, hamburgers & ice cream
 Walkaround – Psi Chi & Psychology Club will be
selling “buck-eyes” and hot chocolate
Substance Use Disorders:
Overview
Chapter 10
Hallucinogens: An Overview
 Nature of Hallucinogens
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Substances that change the way the user perceives the
world
May produce delusions, paranoia, hallucinations, and
altered sensory perception
Specific neurobiological actions are unknown
Examples include marijuana, LSD
Hallucinogens: An Overview
 Marijuana
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Active chemical is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
May produce several symptoms (e.g., mood swings,
paranoia, hallucinations)
Impairment in motivation is not uncommon (i.e.,
amotivational syndrome)
Major signs of withdrawal and dependence do not typically
occur but can in some individuals
Hallucinogens: An Overview (cont.)
 LSD and Other Hallucinogens
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d-lysergic acid diethylamide
Tolerance tends to be rapid, and withdrawal symptoms are
uncommon
Psychotic delusional and hallucinatory symptoms can be
problematic
Substance Use Disorders:
Etiology
Chapter 10
Causes of Substance-Related Disorders:
Social and Cultural Dimensions
 Exposure to drugs is a prerequisite for use of drugs
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Drug availability in society
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Media, family, peers
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Legal v. illegal substances
Prohibition never 100% successful
Peer group especially important during time of peak substance
use – adolescence and young adulthood
Parents and the family appear critical
 The role of cultural factors
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Influence the manifestation of substance abuse
Moderating influence upon individual risk factors
Causes of Substance-Related Disorders:
Family and Genetic Influences
 Results of family, twin, and adoption studies
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Substance abuse has a genetic component
Much of the focus has been on alcoholism
Genetic differences in alcohol metabolism
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Ethnic and gender differences
Multiple genes are involved in substance abuse
Sensitivity to substance may be an important inherited risk
for developing problems
Alcohol Use Disorders and Genetic Influence
 Children with one or more alcohol-dependent
parents are 3 to 5 times more likely to develop
alcohol dependence, 7 times more likely to develop
alcohol abuse
 Genetic influence particularly strong for “Type II
alcoholics”
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Cloninger’s alcoholism typology:
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Type I – later onset of drinking, more anxiety, unlikely to
behave in an antisocial way when drinking
Type II – early onset drinking, little anxiety, more social
consequences of drinking, associated with antisocial
personality disorder
Type II alcoholism occurs at much higher rates among boys
with alcohol dependent fathers
Causes of Substance-Related Disorders:
Neurobiological Influences
 Results of Neurobiological Research
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Drugs affect the pleasure or reward centers in the brain
The pleasure center – Dopamine, midbrain, frontal cortex
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Some drugs directly affect this center – cocaine and
amphetamines
Other drugs indirectly affect this center by interfering with
the performance of the inhibiting GABA system – alcohol and
opioids
Neurotransmitters responsible for anxiety/negative affect
may be inhibited
Causes of Substance-Related Disorders:
Psychological Dimensions
 Role of learning factors in development of disorder
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Initial use driven by positive reinforcement (high),
continued use by negative reinforcement (avoidance of
withdrawal) – opponent process theory
Negative reinforcement could explain initial use as well
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Tension reduction hypothesis
Coping skills deficits hypothesis
Self-medication hypothesis
Expectancies predict use and abuse
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Expectancies in young children predict later problems
Expectancies among college students predict quantity and
frequency of use, and may account for acute effects
An Integrative Model of Substance-Related
Disorders
 Exposure or access to a drug is necessary, but not
sufficient
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Many use, relatively few develop problems
 Drug use depends on social and cultural
expectations
 Drugs are usually initially used because of their
pleasurable effects
 Drugs are abused for reasons that are more complex
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The premise of equifinality
Reasons for initial use not necessarily the same as reasons
for continued use
Stress may interact with psychological, genetic, social, and
learning factors