Models of addiction and types of interventions: An integrative look
Abstract
Simon, R., & West, R. (2015). Models of addiction and types of interventions: An integrative look. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 4(1), 13-20. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v4i1.198
Background: Use of psychoactive substances and problem gambling create serious harm to individuals who engage in these practices and to society as a whole (World Health Organization, 2002). The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) regularly monitors drug-related problems and interventions, as well as the efficiency of interventions. The scope and methodology of monitoring, however, depends on the conceptualization of “addiction.”
Methods: The relevant literature was screened for models and theories relating to “addiction,” resulting in a systematic overview of the concepts and related approaches (EMCDDA, 2013). Using this as a background, different approaches for interventions and their theoretical bases are discussed.
Results: Models of addiction follow two approaches. Most of these focus on the individual addict, involving constructs such as emotions, drive states, habits, choice, and goal-oriented processes, or else taking a more integrative or change-oriented view. Others are population-based models, including social network, economic, communication, and organizational system models.
While substance- and non-substance-related addictions differ in a number of respects, they share key elements: a repeated powerful motivation to engage in a particular behavior, acquired through enacting the behavior, despite the experience or risk of significant harm. Nine different types of intervention to combat addiction found in the literature involve attempts to change one or more of three factors that interact to underpin behavior: capability, opportunity, and motivation (the “COM-B” model). The models of addiction reviewed may serve as a basis for such interventions.
In consideration of publishing this article the authors transfer, assign, or otherwise convey all copyright ownership to the International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research. By this transfer, the article becomes the property of the International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the journal.
This transfer of copyright also implies transfer of rights for printed, electronic, microfilm, and facsimile publication. The author(s) will receive no royalty or other monetary compensation for transferring the copyright of the article to the International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research. IJADR, in turn, grants each author the right to republish the article, without paying royalties to IJADR, in any book of which he or she is the author or editor, subject to the express conditions that (a) the author notify the International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research in writing of this republication and (b) a credit line attributes the original publication to the International Journal Of Alcohol and Drug Research.
Licence:
Articles are licenced with a Creative Commons License Deed -- you are free to share articles but must give appropriate attribution, may not use for commercial purposes or distribute modified works. See CC/BY-NC/ND/4.0/.
Author Agreement:
As the submitting author, and on behalf of all of the manuscript authors I agree with the terms above relating to the copyright transfer of the manuscript to the International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research.
