Stress and increased vulnerability to drug abuse
Theoretical models linking stress to drug abuse
Most major theories of addiction postulate that acute and
chronic stress play an important role in the motivation to
abuse addictive substances (Tomkins 1966; Russell and
Mehrabian 1975; Leventhal and Cleary 1980; Shiffman
1982; Marlatt and Gordon 1985; Wills and Shiffman
1985; Koob and Le Moal 1997). For example, the stresscoping
model of addiction proposes that use of addictive
substances serves to both reduce negative affect and increase
positive affect, thereby reinforcing drug taking
as an effective, albeit maladaptive, coping strategy
(Shiffman 1982; Wills and Shiffman 1985). Marlatt’s relapse
prevention model (Marlatt and Gordon 1985) states