Beneficial and detrimental effects of genetic explanations for addiction

Matthew S Lebowitz and Paul S Appelbaum

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2017, vol. 63, issue 8, 717-723

Abstract: Background: Addictions are highly stigmatized and increasingly construed as biomedical diseases caused by genes, partly to reduce stigma by deflecting blame. However, genetic explanations may have negative effects, which have been understudied in the context of addiction. How the effects of genetic explanations might differ for substance addictions versus behavioral addictions is also unknown. Aims: This study examined the impact of genetic explanations for addiction on measures of treatment expectancies, blame, and perceived agency and self-control, as well as whether these varied depending on whether the addiction was to a substance or a behavior. Methods: Participants read about a person (‘Charlie’) with either alcohol use disorder or gambling disorder, receiving either a genetic or nongenetic explanation of Charlie’s problem. They rated how much they blamed Charlie for his disorder, his likelihood of benefitting from medication or psychotherapy, and how much agency and self-control they ascribed to him. Results: Compared to the nongenetic explanation, the genetic explanation reduced blame and increased confidence in the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy. However, it also decreased the expected effectiveness of psychotherapy and reduced ascriptions of agency and self-control. Conclusion: Genetic explanations for addiction appear to be a ‘double-edged sword’, with beneficial effects that come at a cost.

Keywords: Addiction; genetic etiology; agency; blame; treatment expectancies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764017737573 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:63:y:2017:i:8:p:717-723

DOI: 10.1177/0020764017737573

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().