Determinants of Addiction

Why can two people use a drug and one person becomes addicted while the other does not? Determinants of Addiction: Neurobiological, Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sociocultural Factors unravels the complexities underlying addiction, to understand how individual factors at the genetic, cellular, anatomical, personality, and sociocultural level can influence susceptibility to abuse disorders. The first section reviews cellular mechanisms of addiction, and how neurons are altered by drug abuse. It examines how drug abuse hijacks reward pathways, including changes to dopamine transmission and receptor density. The second section covers the behavioral-cognitive determinants of addiction. This includes conditioning, memory processes, and peer influences on drug addiction. The final section examines individual differences in sociocultural factors, sex/gender differences, and personality factors. The book references commonly abused drugs such as nicotine, alcohol, opiates, and cocaine. Explores differentiating factors influencing why people become addicted Introduces the cellular and anatomical pathways of addiction Identifies genes implicated in substance use disorders Reviews role of conditioning in the development of substance use disorders Includes personality, sex/gender, and sociocultural factors in addiction Discusses the influence of peers and stress