PSY 335A Drugs and Behavior

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PSY 335A Drugs and Behavior

• Introductory Class
• Please bring your laptops from time to time

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Drug use and abuse

• Does advertising prescription drugs increase
  their use?
• Does discussing drugs encourage their use?
• E.M. Brecher How to launch a nationwide drug
  menace
• What are the effects of courses like this one?

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Drugs and Behavior

• Course overview Web site and syllabus
• Discussion and questions
• Drugs and behavior in the disciplines
• Classification schemes
• Juliens classification scheme

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Drugs and Behavior in the Disciplines

• DB is at the interface of medical science and
  psychology
• Pharmacology and Behavioral Medicine
• Psychopharmacology
• Neuropharmacology
• Neuropsychopharmacology
• Contributing disciplines

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Classification Schemes

• Dichotomous classification schemes
• Prescription vs. OTC
• Therapeutic vs. recreational
• Licit vs. illicit
• Uppers vs. downers
• Financially viable vs. non-viable
• Orphan Drug Act (1983)

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More classification schemes

• By mechanism or site of action
• By chemical structure
• By source or origin, eg. opiates
• By single effect
• EEG-shift (Fink, 1968)
• ANS effect Parasympathomimetic vs.
  sympathomimetic
• By main effect Juliens scheme

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Juliens classification schemes

• 1978 Five categories
• Sedatives and hypnotics
• Stimulants and convulsants
• Narcotic analgesics
• Antipsychotic agents
• Psychedelics and hallucinogens
• 2001 Five categories

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Juliens 2001 classification

• I. Sedative-hypnotic drugs
• II. Stimulants
• III. Analgesics
• IV. Hallucinogens and psychedelics
• V. Drugs used to treat psychological disorders

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Julien (2001) continued...

• Julien also discusses other drugs that do not fit
  into his classification scheme, especially
  anabolic-androgenic steroids
• Juliens scheme is followed, more-or-less, by
  Meyer Quenzer (2005) and by Maisto et al. (2008)

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Classification Schemes

• Dichotomous classification schemes
• Prescription vs. OTC
• Therapeutic vs. recreational
• Licit vs. illicit
• Uppers vs. downers
• Financially viable vs. non-viable
• Orphan Drug Act (1983)

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Basic Terminology of Drug Action

• What is a drug?
• Drugs, foods, and the FDA
• Chemical name vs. generic name vs. Trade Name vs.
  street name
• Dosage and administration
• Illicit drug use
• Deviant drug use
• Drug misuse and drug abuse
• Drug addiction

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Multiple or Polydrug UseInteractions

• Agonist effects Aspirin and anticoagulants
  many drugs and grapefruit juice
  (fumarocoumarins) Xanax, Zoloft, Allegra,
  Tegretol, Lipitor(Longer list here)
• Synergistic effects, also called potentiation.
  The histamine receptor antagonists Zantac or
  Tagamet potentiate alcohol Two glasses of wine
  make one drunk.
• Antagonist effects Caffeine and sedatives
  nicotine and Darvon

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Drug effects

• Every drug has potential for both good and bad
  effects
• Thus, each drug has more than one effect
• Drug effects are dosage-dependent
• Drug effects are socially and psychologically
  influenced.

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Types of drug effects

• Therapeutic effects
• Main effects
• Side effects
• Specific drug effects
• Nonspecific drug effects
• Individual differences
• Social and psychological influences
• Placebo effects

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Ray and Ksir(2003) four revolutions in drug use

• The 19th century vaccines
• Drugs can prevent physical illness
• The first half of the 20th century antibiotics
• Drugs can cure physical illness
• The 1950s psychopharmacology
• Drugs can treat mental illness
• The 1960s the pill
• Drugs can alter normal physiological processes

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Psychology and Sociology of Drug Use Epidemiology

• How could you go about finding the number of
  users of a particular drug, say marijuana, in
  your high school?
• What problems would you encounter that might make
  the estimate unreliable?
• Would the problems be different if you were to
  try to find the number of users of marijuana at
  Houghton?

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Epidemiology Data collection

• Track manufacture, transport, and sales
• Track ER visits and hospitalizations (DAWN)
• Track police reports and court records
• Survey
• Is the sample representative and inclusive?
• Are the answers honest?
• Are participant biases consistent over time?

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Epidemiology Marker variables

• Correlation and factor analysis
• Age and gender factor with drug use
• Extreme poverty (and perhaps extreme wealth)
  correlates with higher drug use (but the middle
  ranges of socioeconomic status do not differ in
  drug use)
• Personality traits do not correlate with drug
  use, but social nonconformity does.

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More epidemiology

• Risk factors
• Parents
• Education
• Peers
• Early experience with alcohol
• Emotional pain

• Protective factors
• Parents
• Education
• Peers
• Religious and prosocial activities
• High self-esteem

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Epidemiology Antecedents

• Longitudinal studies
• Are there gateway drugs?
• What is the interaction effect of peers and
  parents?
• What are the triggers?
• Stupidity and rebellion
• Identification with an accepting sub-culture
• Positive and negative reinforcement

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• 1. Have you seen any of the new anti-drug
  advertisements? Do you think they will be any
  more effective than the previous Brain-as-Egg
  campaign? Why or why not?

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• 2. Did you participate in any drug use prevention
  programs in school? If so, did you find them
  effective?
• How could they be improved?

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• 3. "Positive parental involvement in childrens
  lives reduces the likelihood of drug use. Parents
  must understand that they -- not schools,
  community groups, or the government -- can make
  the biggest difference in childrens attitudes
  and values."
• Do you agree that parents can make the biggest
  difference? In what ways did your parents
  influence your attitudes and behaviors regarding
  drug use?

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Drug names

• (S)-N, a-dimethylbenzeneethanamine
• methamphetamine
• Desoxyn
• Speed