Affective scaffolding in addiction

Bibliographic Data

ID21335446
AuthorsZoey Lavallee (0000-0002-6444-2030, McGill University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume69
Issue4
Pages2286-2314
Publication date2026-04-21
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInquiry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-174X • E-ISSN: 1502-3923
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0020174x.2023.2194321
OpenAlexW4361213313
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited59

Addiction is widely taken to involve a profound loss of self-control. Addictive motivation is extremely forceful, and it is remarkably hard to abstain from addictive behaviors. Theories of addiction have sought to explain how self-control is undermined in addiction. However, an important explanatory factor in addictive motivation and behaviors has so far been underexamined: emotion. This paper examines the link between emotion and loss of control in addiction. I use the concept of affective scaffolding to argue that drug use functions as a form of emotion regulation that, especially in certain psycho-socioeconomic conditions, can escalate into what I term addictive affective dependence. Addictive affective dependence is extremely motivating of drug use, and in this way contributes to the agent losing control. An upshot of the paper is that it predicts something that is known to be true about addiction treatment and recovery: strategies that address psycho-socioeconomic conditions are particularly successful in bolstering agency in addiction. Furthermore, my view explains why these strategies work. Thus, the view provides a conceptual framework for existing effective methods of addressing addiction

Addiction · Agency (philosophy) · Control (management) · Developmental psychology · Psychiatry · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Computer Science · Medicine · Mental Health Research Topics · Psychology · Social Psychology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

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