Addictive behaviors: An analysis of support type and relapse rates among college students

Abstract

Addictions can be classified as any substance, habit or behavior that one has come to heavily depend upon. This can include a variety of habits or behaviors outside of the traditional illicit drug realm. We identified compulsions related to non-illicit or habitual addictions to determine if relapse rates are negatively correlated with positive or negative support. We used a mixed-methods design that examined 24 undergraduate psychology students who attended a rural state university. Participants were asked to give up an addictive substance or habit of their choice for 30 days, and keep a journal during this time. In addition to investigating data using qualitative measures, two independent samples t-tests found that there were significant  differences between relapse rates and support levels, p= 0.002, and relapse rates and gender p=.011.Keywords: Non-illicit, addiction, relapse, positive support, negative support