Substance Use and Vulnerability to Addiction

This course will examine how we classify substance use, substance misuse, and substance use disorders and how substance use impacts population health, including exacerbating health disparities. We will critically examine and compare prominent models of why people become addicted to substances. Multilevel factors influencing vulnerability will be analyzed, including individual factors such as biological susceptibility, personality, and co-occurring psychiatric disorders; interpersonal factors such as peer use and familial support; community factors such as access to alternative reinforcers and positive group identity; and sociopolitical factors such as systemic bias, racism, and stigmatizing policies and practices. Using the socioecological model as a guiding framework, students will reflect on their own risk and protective factors as they consider the complex influences that predispose some people and population groups to substance misuse more than others.