Chronic Stress, Drug Use, and Vulnerability to Addiction

By Rajita Sinha. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2008

1,857 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Stress is a well‐known risk factor in the development of addiction and in addiction relapse vulnerability. A series of population‐based and epidemiological studies have identified specific stressors and individual‐level variables that are predictive of substance use and abuse. Preclinical research also shows that stress exposure enhances drug self‐administration and reinstates drug seeking in drug‐experienced animals. The deleterious effects of early life stress, child maltreatment, and accumulated adversity on alterations in the corticotropin releasing factor and hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis (CRF/HPA), the extrahypothalamic CRF, the autonomic arousal, and the central noradrenergic systems are also presented. The effects of these alterations on the corticostriatal‐limbic motivational, learning, and adaptation systems that include mesolimbic dopamine, glutamate, and gamma‐amino‐butyric acid (GABA) pathways are discussed as the underlying pathophysiology associated with stress‐related risk of addiction. The effects of regular and chronic drug use on alterations in these stress and motivational systems are also reviewed, with specific attention to the impact of these adaptations on stress regulation, impulse control, and perpetuation of compulsive drug seeking and relapse susceptibility. Finally, research gaps in furthering our understanding of the association between stress and addiction are presented, with the hope that addressing these unanswered questions will significantly influence new prevention and treatment strategies to address vulnerability to addiction.

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4779c35e347173abc72b375939c5bb5c46e0c49d

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Citations in the corpus

Factors Associated with Internet Addiction among Adolescents (2009, unknown): “23 Results obtained in this study provide further evidence for a universal relationship between stress and addiction of all forms.”
The Effects of Stress on Physical Activity and Exercise (2014, unknown): “Much has been made of the stress-impulsivity connection and, consequently, a full complement of selfregulation strategies would likely be useful [129, 282, 342].”
Stress and Obesity. (2019, background): “Changes in CRF, glucocorticoids including cortisol, and norepinephrine sensitize reward centers in the brain such as the nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum, which increases the drive to eat these foods (Cottone et al. 2009, Sinha & Jastreboff 2013).”
The Effect of Stress on Consumer Saving and Spending (2016, background): “Some of the most common stressors involve events or situations related to work (Kanner et al. 1981; Keyes, Hatzenbuehler, and Hasin 2011), but the nature of the stressor can vary (Lazarus 1966; Sinha 2001, 2008).”
The relationship between life stress and smartphone addiction on taiwanese university student: A mediation model of learning self-Efficacy and social self-Efficacy (2014, background): “Not only is life stress a known risk factor for substance dependence and addiction relapse (Sinha, 2008), but adolescents may develop addictions to cope with social stress (Orford, 2001).”
Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health in Adolescents: A Systematic Review (2021, background): “An earlier study [32] showed the link between the lack of positive coping skills and the possible neurobiological pathways that may associate stress with the craving for drug use.”
Stress and Coping Patterns of University Students (2019, background): “Stress is also regarded as a general risk factor for substance addiction (Sinha, 2008); however, researchers investigating the link between stress and general substance use in a college student population found it also served as a risk factor for substance use within their sample (Coleman & Trunzo, ”