Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026
07:30
Brain Morphology of Cannabis Users With or Without Psychosis: A Pilot MRI Study
Published on: August 18, 2020
Users' and GPs' causal attributions of illegal substance use: an exploratory interview study
Rolf Wynn1, Kjetil Karlsen, Bianca Lorntzsen
1Department of Clinical Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway. rolf.wynn@gmail.com
Patient Education and Counseling
|February 10, 2009
Summary
Understanding causal attributions for substance use (SU) is key. Both SU and general practitioners (GPs) believe multiple factors cause SU, but communication remains challenging.
Area of Science:
- Medical Sociology
- Addiction Psychiatry
- General Practice
Background:
- Causal attributions, or beliefs about the causes of substance use (SU), can influence patient-provider communication.
- Exploring these beliefs among individuals who use substances (SU) and their general practitioners (GPs) is crucial for improving mutual understanding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the beliefs of SU and GPs regarding the causes of illegal substance use.
- To understand how substance use is discussed during consultations.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative analysis of interviews with eight individuals who use substances (SU) and five general practitioners (GPs).
- Interviews focused on perceived causes of substance use and communication dynamics in consultations.
Main Results:
- Both SU and GPs identified multiple contributing factors to substance use, including biological, social, lack of self-control, positive experiences, and chance.
- SU individuals more frequently emphasized the positive aspects of substance use compared to GPs.
- Communication about substance use during consultations was frequently reported as difficult by both groups.
Conclusions:
- Substance use is commonly viewed by both SU and GPs as multifactorial.
- Effective communication regarding substance use between SU and GPs is challenging.
- GPs should explore patients' causal attributions for substance use to enhance clinical care.
More Related Videos
05:40The Motivation for Alcohol Reward: Predictors of Progressive-Ratio Intravenous Alcohol Self-Administration in Humans
Published on: April 28, 2022
09:29Investigating Drivers of Antireward in Addiction Behavior with Anatomically Specific Single-Cell Gene Expression Methods
Published on: August 4, 2022
Related Concept Videos
01:24Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep
Substance use disorders involve a pattern of using drugs more extensively than intended and continuing use despite harmful consequences. This includes legal substances like alcohol and nicotine, as well as illegal drugs. These disorders often involve both physical and psychological dependence, reflecting compulsive use of substances that significantly alter thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, contributing to a major public health issue.
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
01:15Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Drug dependence, abuse, and addiction are complex phenomena that can precipitate various abnormal states. Physical dependence refers to a state of pharmacological adaptation to a drug. This adaptation often results in tolerance—a reduced response to the drug after repeated administrations. When the drug use is abruptly stopped, withdrawal symptoms occur due to the body's need to readjust from the pharmacologically induced imbalance. However, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms do not necessarily...
02:05Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. Each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present (Goffman, 1959). Think about the way you...
01:11Observational Studies
Observational studies are a type of analytical study where researchers observe events without any interventions. In other words, the researcher does not influence the response variable or the experiment's outcome.
There are three types of observational studies – Prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional.
Prospective Study
Prospective studies, also known as longitudinal or cohort studies, are carried out by collecting future data from groups sharing similar characteristics. One example of...
There are three types of observational studies – Prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional.
Prospective Study
Prospective studies, also known as longitudinal or cohort studies, are carried out by collecting future data from groups sharing similar characteristics. One example of...
01:15Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory
Correspondent inference theory, proposed by Jones and Davis in 1965, seeks to explain how individuals infer stable personality traits from observed behaviors. It suggests that people attribute actions to underlying dispositions rather than external circumstances, particularly when the behavior appears intentional and socially significant.Voluntary Behavior and Dispositional AttributionAccording to this theory, individuals are more likely to attribute behavior to personal traits when it appears...
01:14Fundamental Attribution Error
According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is called the fundamental attribution...