Automatic and Controlled Processes and the Development of Addictive Behaviors in Adolescents: A Review and a Model
Document Type
Article
Department
Community and Global Health (CGU)
Publication Date
2007
Disciplines
Behavioral Disciplines and Activities | Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Community Health | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Medicine and Health Sciences | Mental and Social Health | Psychiatry and Psychology | Public Health | Substance Abuse and Addiction
Abstract
This paper presents a review and a model of the development of addictive behaviors in (human) adolescents, with a focus on alcohol. The model proposes that addictive behaviors develop as the result of an imbalance between two systems: an appetitive, approach-oriented system that becomes sensitized with repeated alcohol use and a regulatory executive system that is not fully developed and that is compromised by exposure to alcohol. Self-regulation critically depends on two factors: ability and motivation to regulate the appetitive response tendency. The motivational aspect is often still weak in heavy drinking adolescents, who typically do not recognize their drinking as problematic. Motivation to regulate use often develops only years later, after the individual has encountered serious alcohol-related problems. Unfortunately, at that point behavioral change becomes harder due to several neurocognitive adaptations that result from heavy drinking. As we document, there is preliminary support for the central elements of the model (appetitive motivation vs. self-regulation), but there is a paucity of research directly addressing these mechanisms in human adolescents. Further, we emphasize that adolescent alcohol use primarily takes place in a social context, and that therefore studies should not solely focus on intra-individual factors predicting substance use and misuse but also on interpersonal social factors. Finally, we discuss implications of the model for interventions.
Rights Information
Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use & License Information
DOI
10.1016/j.pbb.2006.09.021
Recommended Citation
Wiers, Reinout W.; Bartholow, Bruce D.; van den Wildenberg, Esther; Thush, Carolien; Engels, Rutger C.M.E.; Sher, Kenneth J.; Grenard, Jerry L.; Ames, Susan L.; and Stacy, Alan W., "Automatic and Controlled Processes and the Development of Addictive Behaviors in Adolescents: A Review and a Model" (2007). CGU Faculty Publications and Research. 153.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_fac_pub/153
