Psychological Models of Addiction

There are several models that hypothesize that substance use disorders originate as the result of psychological irregularities or abnormalities. Although the concept of an addictive personality that predisposes one to various substance addictions has met with controversy and methodological flaws in much of this body of research, the notion that there are psychological correlates of addiction is still quite prevalent in the literature. These psychological models can best be understood by grouping them according to their major theoretical paradigms as follows: psychoanalytic models, psychopathology models, personality models, behavioral models, and the opponent process model.