Using your knowledge of the psychology of addictive behaviour, explain some of the likely reasons why Sally has become addicted to smoking. (6 marks) Sally has low self-esteem which is a factor that makes a person more vulnerable to addiction. Research has shown that some smokers have low self-esteem, however this is correlational and doesn’t tell us whether the low self-esteem came before the addiction or after the addiction, or whether they are both affected by a third factor. Sally’s low self-esteem also makes her more vulnerable to peer pressure from her already smoking friends. Bricker’s study found that childhood friends and parents play a great role in the initiation and maintenance of addiction. Sally’s parents also smoke which means Sally was 2 x more likely to become a regular smoker. The Social Learning Theory also tells us that Sally will look at her parents as role models and imitate their smoking. Once the smoking has been initiated, structural changes in the brain happen which plays a part in dependence, cravings and tolerance as the brain adapts to the increased dopamine and nicotine. This means addiction is maintained as withdrawal effects make relapse likely and this combined with her attitude towards smoking, her friends smoking too and her lack of self-esteem makes the addiction hard to quit because she wants to fit in with her friends and doesn’t feel she has the strength to stop smoking on her own, so the addiction is maintained. Sally may also explain her addiction using external attributions such as ‘society demands that I should be thin and smoking decreases my appetite’ which alleviates the problem because it isn’t her fault in this way, so it makes it even harder to stop and may be a reason she initiated smoking in the first place.

Outline the theory of planned behaviour?

Q12. Outline two examples of public health interventions