Reducing Addiction (AQA A Level Psychology): Flashcards

False.

No drug is officially approved, though opioid antagonists such as naltrexone are the most promising candidates under research.

Because of the similarities between gambling and substance addiction now recognised in DSM-5.

It enhances GABA release, reducing dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, so the brain's reward system is blocked when the person gambles.

All forms of NRT beat placebo and no treatment, with users up to 70% more likely to be abstinent after six months; nasal spray was most effective.

After six weeks all ten participants showed reduced cravings, and six gave up gambling completely.

It only requires the individual to take a tablet daily rather than making wholesale changes to their thinking, as psychological therapies demand.

It encourages people to view addiction as a medical problem rather than a moral weakness, making those affected more likely to seek help.

NRT causes sleep disturbances, gastro-intestinal problems and headaches; naltrexone's are more serious as the dose for gambling is much higher, so patients may discontinue.

Naltrexone's effectiveness depends on a variation in a single gene, so treatments need to be tailored to genetic profiles.

They treat addiction through chemical means alone, ignoring psychological, cognitive and social influences such as triggers and peer pressure.

Side effects and varied responses across individuals raise concerns about informed consent and personalised care, despite reducing stigma.

Classical conditioning and the principle of contiguity: two stimuli become associated if they frequently occur together.

Counterconditioning reduces addiction by associating the drug with an unpleasant state, breaking the pleasurable association and replacing it with a negative one.

The client takes an aversive drug causing nausea, then drinks whisky minutes later so vomiting begins immediately, repeated until they no longer want to drink.

Whisky is used in aversion therapy because it has a particularly strong alcoholic taste and smell.

The smoker inhales cigarette smoke rapidly and deeply enough to make them feel nauseous.

The gambler reads out cards with gambling-related and non-gambling phrases and receives a two-second electric shock for each gambling-related phrase.

False.

The participant pre-selects the intensity, following instructions that it should be painful but not distressing.

Covert sensitisation is aversion therapy carried out in vitro: the individual imagines the unpleasant stimulus rather than experiencing it.

The client relaxes, imagines feeling nauseous and vomiting in detail, then imagines themselves smoking, drinking or gambling while holding the unpleasant images.

They may be asked to picture a rat or snake near or in their drink to strengthen the aversive imagery.

In covert sensitisation, the more negative the imagined situation, the greater the chance of conquering the addiction.

The addictive behaviour becomes the conditioned stimulus and the negative feelings become the conditioned response.

At one-year follow-up, 90% of covert sensitisation clients had reduced gambling compared with 30% for electric shock aversion, with fewer and less intense cravings.

It uses no shock or induced vomiting, poses fewer medical risks, and allows clients to retain their dignity and self-esteem.

Research questioned its efficacy, and inflicting extreme nausea, pain and loss of dignity came to be seen as ethically questionable.

Reviewing 25 studies, effectiveness could not be judged because all but one had methodological problems, especially a failure to blind outcome evaluators.

False.

They treat the behaviour, so other addictive behaviours may replace the one that has ceased (Griffiths, 1995).

They focus only on learned associations, ignoring biological, cognitive and social factors that contribute to addiction.

Both assume addiction is determined by past learning, but covert sensitisation's reliance on mental imagery may better support the client's active role and free will.

To change the faulty ways of thinking that lead people to use drugs or engage in behavioural addictions as maladaptive ways of coping.

Cognitive restructuring and skills training.

Functional analysis is the first stage of CBT, where client and therapist together identify the high-risk situations in which the client is likely to gamble or use a drug.

Warm, collaborative and responsive but not cosy, as the therapist must challenge the client's distorted cognitions rather than accept them.

Drug-refusal skills are specific strategies equipping individuals to deal with the physical temptation and social pressures to take drugs.

Biases operating below awareness, including faulty beliefs about probability, randomness, control, gains and losses, which the therapist confronts and challenges.

Relapse prevention training is a long-term technique focused on giving the individual control over their addiction.

It addresses wider aspects of the client's life related to addiction, using assertiveness training, anger management and social skills training.

It helps clients confront interpersonal conflicts in a controlled, rational way instead of using avoidance, manipulation or aggression.

Clients learn to refuse alcohol with minimum fuss, e.g., making appropriate eye contact and being firm in refusing a drink.

CBT had medium to very large effects on gambling up to three months after treatment, but no significant difference from controls at nine to 12 months.

Gamblers given Gamblers Anonymous plus eight CBT sessions gambled significantly less than GA-only controls up to 12 months later, and face-to-face CBT beat workbook delivery.

False.

Relapse is treated as an opportunity for further cognitive restructuring and an acceptable part of recovery if psychosocial functioning improves.

Techniques can be combined with drug therapies and delivered online or by phone, so treatment is tailored to individual needs.

Drop-out rates can be up to five times higher than for other therapies because CBT is demanding, and high-risk users complete fewer homework assignments.

There is no standard treatment, so it is hard to establish which components work, and studies are not comparing a single consistent intervention.

It assumes individuals have control over their thoughts and behaviours, supporting free will, unlike deterministic biological or learning models.

It addresses both cognitive and behavioural aspects of addiction, whereas biological therapies are reductionist, focusing on brain chemistry or genetics.