pp. 341 347). Further, a multiplicity of causes appears to be required to explain the development of substance abuse behavior including an addiction to heroin by some individuals (Engs, 1990, pp. 542 547).
Some theorists contend that, because narcotic substances can produce a temporary reduction in fear and inner conflict, such substances are used by some individuals as a means of adaptation. Other researchers hold that genetically determined defects can impair the metabolism of carbohydrates (rendering them ineffective as rapid energy sources), and that certain narcotic substances, notably alcohol, are craved as replacements for carbohydrates.
Freud believed that narcotic addiction was the result of strong oral influences in early childhood, and Menninger advanced the self destructive drive as the prime component in the development of substance abuse behaviors. Knight saw the cause of substance addiction as the result of the combined effects of an inconsistent father and an overindulgent and overprotective mother in childhood and youth, while Adler attributed the development of substance abuse behavior to powerful feelings of inferiority, coupled with a perpetual state of insecurity and a desire to escape responsibility. The desire to escape responsibility is also an integral component of theories developed by Rotter and others in the 1960s and the 1970s holding that psychological locus of control is closely related to the development of substance abuse behavior. These studies found that those individuals with an external locus of control are more prone to abuse narcotic substances than are individuals with an internal locus of control.
Schwartz, Burkhart, and Green (1982, pp. 1113 1114) found that subjects with high sensation seeking needs abused narcotic substances to a greater extent than subjects with low sensation seeking needs. The same study found no relationship between anxiety level and substance abuse behavio...