A2 Psychology project (Substance abuse on alcohol in

Males and Females pg 1)

Introduction:

For this project I will be carrying out I will be looking at alcohol abuse and try to understand if there is a
certain genetic predisposition to becoming an alcoholic. I will also be looking at why this substance is being
used out of moderation in looking at what highs this gives the individual. Looking at this will help me
understand more the reason behind alcohol abuse. First of all I will start with a brief description of the
meaning of substance abuse.

What is substance abuse?

Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not
considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar
manner in nonmedical contexts. The terms have a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive
drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions
imply a negative judgment of the drug use in question (compare with the term responsible drug use for
alternative views). Some of the drugs most often associated with this term include alcohol, amphetamines,
barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methaqualone, and opioids. Use of these drugs may lead to criminal
penalty in addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, both strongly depending on local
jurisdiction.

Studies on alcohol:

• A classic study by Kaij (1960) investigated the rates of alcohol abuse in identical and fraternal twins
Identical and fraternal twin pairs, where one of the twins was known to abuse alcohol, were recruited to the
study. The concordance rates for alcohol abuse with both twins were noted.
For identical twin pairs the concordance rate was 54%. With fraternal twins the concordance rate was just
28%.The higher concordance rates for identical twins points to genetic explanation for alcohol abuse. This
study help show that there is a genetic predisposition to alcohol abuse so this may also help backup alcohol
abuse between males and females.

• Morgenstern et al. (1997) investigated the relationship between antisocial personality disorder (APD) and
alcohol abuse. A structural interview to identify personality characteristics and patterns of alcohol abuse
was carried out with 336 alcohol abusers attending for treatment. Antisocial personality disorder was found
to be associated with alcohol abuse. Certain types of personality, especially APD, are more associated with
alcohol abuse than other types of personality.

Research has helped show how Males or more likely to suffer from alcohol abuse than females however the
trend of the levels of males and females suffering from substance abuse from 1995 – 1999shows a similar
trend between males and females. This is seen in the graph below.
A2 Psychology project (Substance abuse on alcohol in
Males and Females pg 2)