Sensation seeking as a common factor in opioid dependent subjects and high risk sport practicing subjects. A cross sectional study

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-8716(02)00309-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: Animal research has outlined a vulnerability trait to drug dependence like behavior. The behavioral characteristic of this vulnerability is hyperactivity in response to a novel environment of which sensation seeking (SS) has been suggested as a possible equivalent in humans. If this is the case, SS should be more frequent in drug dependent and risky sports practicing subjects then controls. The objective of this study was to determine if opioid dependent subjects (ODS) and regular paragliders (RP) would be more SS then normal controls. Design: Cross sectional study. Participants: Three groups of 34 individuals (total 102) matched for age and sex were selected from ODS seeking treatment, a paragliding club, and a college staff. Main outcome measures: Global and sub-scores of the Zuckerman sensation seeking scale (SSS). Results: Non parametric statistics (Kruskal Wallis and Wilcoxon 2-Sample Tests) were used given the non-normal distribution of SSS scores in the ODS and RP groups. Significant differences were found across the three groups for the Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) (P=0.001), dishinibition (Dis) (P=0.0003) and total score (P=0.001). ODS and RP scored significantly higher than controls on two (Dis and the TAS scales). RP also scored significantly higher on the Boredom Susceptibility (BS) scale (P=0.04). Conclusion: Our results show that RP and ODS differ from controls and have some similarities based on the SSS. In this study, the ODS and the RP could express different forms of a general tendency to seek intense and abrupt sensations through various behaviors. Our results in humans are in favor of the hypothesis that the behavioral trait of vulnerability to drug dependence behavior is expressed through SS.

Introduction

Human drug abuse activity is a complex phenomenon that is not yet fully understood. So-called sensation seeking (SS) behavior, as described by Zuckerman (1994), may provide a model for a better understanding of this behavior and how it may relate to other behaviors. Zuckerman (1994) proposed that SS ‘is a trait defined by the seeking of varied, novel, complex and intense sensations and experiences and the willingness to take physical, social, legal and financial risks for the sake of such experience’. He also proposed that SS, like other human behavior is determined by multiple factors. Consequently, one could study the biological and genetic basis for SS as well as the ways by which environmental factors determine the expression of the trait. This type of model may help us to organize and conduct research that leads to an understanding of why some people seek thrill and adventure through socially accepted sports activities, whereas, other people are driven to disinhibitory forms of SS such as drug use. This kind of temperamental model has broadened the research on the psychopathology of vulnerability to substance abuse towards other forms of addictive behaviors and the possible normal expression of this trait.

Some sports activities may provide a method by which sensation seekers satisfy their appetite for excitement (for review see: Zuckerman, 1983, Zuckerman, 1994). They are particularly interested in activities that have risk and provide unusual sensations associated with speed or defiance of gravity, such as parachuting, hang gliding, auto racing, scuba diving, and mountain climbing (Gundersheim, 1987). Conversely, sensation seekers are not interested in low risk and low excitement activities such as marathon running (Potgieter and Bisschoff, 1990). Several research studies have examined the practitioners of high-risk sports (Fowler et al., 1980, Freixanet, 1991, Michel et al., 1997, Rowland et al., 1986). Overall, the results of these studies show that athletes participating in high-risk sports have significantly higher scores on the Zuckerman scale than do similar athletes, who practice low risk sports.

A number of researchers have reported that there is a strong relationship in humans between SS behavior and drug use and abuse (Andrucci et al., 1989, Jaffe and Archer, 1987, Pedersen et al., 1989, Ratliff and Burkhart, 1984, Schwartz et al., 1982, Von Knorring et al., 1987). SS has been shown to be a more powerful predictor of initial drug use and abuse across drug categories than other measures of personality and psychopathology. SS was found to stand out as a significant factor in multiple use and abuse. However, except for alcohol dependent subjects where SS would be an important component in alcoholism typologies (Babor et al., 1992, Cadoret et al., 1995, Cloninger et al., 1981), very few studies have reported on SS in drug dependent individuals.

Hence, the SS trait could lead to different behaviors. We posed the following question, ‘Do drug dependent subjects and high risk sports practicing subjects express different forms of a general tendency to seek intense and abrupt sensations through various behaviors?’ We designed and conducted a clinical study to address this question. To our knowledge, this study is the first to study simultaneously SS in two such groups of individuals in comparison with controls. More specifically, the study was designed to test the following hypotheses:

  • 1

    opioid dependent subjects (ODS) and paragliders will score higher on the Zuckerman sensation seeking scale (SSS) than will a group of matched control subjects;

  • 2

    the differences between the three groups will not be restricted to the subscales related to either risks and sports related (the Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS)) for Regular Paragliders (RP) or substance related (Dishinibition (Dis) scale) for ODS, in an attempt to control for the consequences of each of these activities on the expression of SS.

Section snippets

Subjects

This study was approved by the Subjects Ethics Committee in Biomedical Research. Each subject gave his or her informed consent prior to participation. Participants in this trial came from three different groups: drug dependent persons, paragliders and normals. ODS were recruited from a group of consecutively admitted patients into a Substance Abuse Treatment Program, prior treatment initiation. Each ODS was diagnosed according to criteria of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental

Results

One hundred and fifty six subjects completed the questionnaire and of these, 102 subjects (34 per group), matched for gender and age, were analyzed.

Between March 1997 and August 1998 a total of 50 opioid dependent patients were enrolled into the Substance Abuse Treatment Program. Forty-four patients (88%) agreed to participate in the study and of these, ten could not be matched for gender and age with participants from the other two groups. Non reported practicing high risk sports.

Of the 65

Discussion

To our knowledge, this is the first study to measure SS in risky sports practicing subjects and ODS in comparison with controls, using the same schedule, in the same geographical environment and within the same time frame. This is a cross sectional assessment of three groups of individuals matched for age and sex. As hypothesized, both the ODS and the RP were more sensation seekers than controls. They differed from controls on the same two subscales: the TAS and Disinhibition scales and in

Acknowledgements

Supported by grants MESR-94V 0269 to M. Auriacombe and PHRC-1994 to J. Tignol.

References (43)

  • M. Zuckerman et al.

    Demographic influences in sensation seeking and expressions of sensation seeking in religion, smoking and driving habits

    Personality and Individual Differences

    (1980)
  • M. Zuckerman et al.

    relationships between Cloninger's, Zuckerman's and Eysenck's dimensions of personality

    Personality and Individual Differences

    (1996)
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders

    (1994)
  • G.L. Andrucci et al.

    The relationship of MMPI and sensation seeking scales to adolescent drug use

    Journal of Personality Assesment

    (1989)
  • T.F. Babor et al.

    Types of alcoholics 1

    Archives of General Psychiatry

    (1992)
  • S. Brisseau et al.

    L'addiction severity index

    Le Courrier des Addictions

    (1999)
  • R.J. Cadoret et al.

    Adoption studies demonstrating two genetic pathway to drug abuse

    Archives of General Psychiatry

    (1995)
  • S. Carton et al.

    Le concept de recherche de sensation: traduction et validation de l’échelle de Zuckerman

    Psychiatry and Psychobiology

    (1990)
  • S. Carton et al.

    Cross cultural validity of the sensation seeking scale: development of a french abbreviated form

    European Psychiatry

    (1992)
  • R. Clement et al.

    Field dependence, sensation seeking, and driving behaviour

    Personality and Individual Differences

    (1984)
  • C.R. Cloninger et al.

    Inheritance of alcohol abuse

    Archives of General Psychiatry

    (1981)
  • Cited by (80)

    • Boredom susceptibility as predictor of smoking cessation outcomes: Sex differences

      2019, Personality and Individual Differences
      Citation Excerpt :

      Concretely, boredom proneness is defined as “one's proneness toward experiencing boredom” (Farmer & Sundberg, 1986, p. 5)”, while boredom susceptibility, is defined as “aversion to repetition, routine, and dull people, and restlessness when things are unchanging” (Zuckerman, Eysenck, & Eysenck, 1978, p. 140). Higher scores in boredom susceptibility have been related to substance use (e.g., alcohol, opioids) and gambling related-behaviors (Franques et al., 2003; Mercer-Lynn et al., 2013). Nevertheless, the relationship between this personality trait and smoking has not been sufficiently investigated.

    • A qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of satisfaction toward extreme sporting Events

      2018, Australasian Marketing Journal
      Citation Excerpt :

      I think theory would be better lower case) suggests that some individuals (so called “edgeworkers”) voluntarily seek risky challenges (Bunn, 2017), pain and danger (Laurendeau, 2006) driven by a continuous desire for pushing their own limits and a feeling of reaching a superior state through struggle and fatigue. Further, the Sensation-Seeking Theory (Zuckerman, 2015) explains an individual voluntarily engaging in risky activities -such as extreme sports- referring to a specific personal trait (i.e., sensation-seeking) which pushes participants to desperately seek strong experiences (Brymer, 2010) with a constant -even addictive- need for intense sensations (Franques et al., 2003). According to the Edgework Theory, individuals actively engage in risky, potentially dangerous activities driven by their willingness to push their physical and psychological limits further (Brymer and Houge Mackenzie, 2016), and such a willingness specifically characterizes extreme athletes (Gyimóthy and Mykletun, 2004).

    • Risk-taking propensity and (un)healthy behavior in Germany

      2018, Drug and Alcohol Dependence
      Citation Excerpt :

      Its relationship with other risk-taking propensity measures should be considered. To expand the investigation from South Africa, additionally to the measures used by Szrek et al. (2012; i.e., DOSPERT, BART), the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS-V; Beauducel et al., 2003), which has been found to be a valid predictor of risky health behavior (Franques et al., 2003; Maher et al., 2015; Zuckerman, 2014), was included as a further risk-taking propensity measure. The SSS-V measures the personality trait sensation seeking that describes the tendency to seek varied, novel, complex and intense experiences and therefore to engage in risky health behavior, such as risky driving or risky sexual behavior (Zuckerman, 1984, 1994).

    • Locomotor activity does not predict individual differences in morphine self-administration in rats

      2018, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
      Citation Excerpt :

      However, the relationship between sensation-seeking and opioid addiction vulnerability has not been well established. Some studies have shown a positive relationship between sensation-seeking and opioid use in humans (Franques et al., 2003; Kosten et al., 1994; Vest et al., 2016), while others have shown either no relationship (Conrod et al., 2000; Marino et al., 2013; Nielsen et al., 2012) or a negative relationship (Ahn and Vassileva, 2016). The reasons for these discrepancies across studies are unclear, but may reflect differences in subject characteristics (e.g., age, sex, drug use history, and/or comorbidities), measure(s) of sensation-seeking, or other factors (Marino et al., 2013).

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Partial data from this study have been presented at the 61st Annual Scientific Meeting, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, 1999, Acapulco, Mexico (Piquemal, E., Franques, P., Auriacombe, M., Grabot, D., Tignol, J. Sensation seeking as a common factor in opioid dependent subjects and high risk sport practicing subjects).

    View full text