PHARM 3101 - Biological and Psychosocial Factors in Addictions

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2025

Everyone differs in their susceptibility to develop addiction. We respond differently to drugs of abuse, have different side-effects and develop problem behaviour at a different rate. This course explores the factors that can increase or decrease the chance that someone will develop addictive behaviour. We will explore the effects of individual substances and learn how the body adapts to continued drug use. Addiction is more than just using drugs often. The biological changes that happen with long-term drug use go far beyond the initial local adaptations in the brain. Understanding this is important to help people manage their long-term use. In this course, we will explore the biological basis of addictions, but also review environmental and psychological factors that are important contributors to the development of addiction. Behavioural addictions have a lot in common with substance addictions. We will explore these links and look at other new developments in the research on the biological basis of addiction.

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Course Details

Course Code	PHARM 3101
Course	Biological and Psychosocial Factors in Addictions
Coordinating Unit	Medical Sciences
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 5 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Prerequisites	HLTH SC 2104
Assumed Knowledge	HLTH SC 2104
Assessment	Online quizzes, oral presentation and exam.

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Abdallah Salem

Dr Abdallah Salem
abdallah.salem@adelaide.edu.au

Dr Andrea Gordon
andrea.gordon@adelaide.edu.au

Lectures and workshops will be run by staff from the Disciplines of Pharmacology and Psychiatry, School of Psychology and external experts.

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

The course is taught by academics from the Adelaide Medical School and the School of Psychology primarily, with support from local and global experts.

Week	lecture	lecture
1	Biological and Psychosocial Factors	Biological and Psychosocial Factors
2	Individual differences in susceptibility to addiction: Psychosocial	Individual differences in susceptibility to addiction: Biological
3	Individual differences in susceptibility to addiction: Social experiences	Individual differences in susceptibility to addiction: Life span
4	The brain and brain signalling	How drugs affect the brain
5	Different drugs-different effects	Different drugs-different effects
6	Different drugs-different effects	Different drugs-different effects
7	Biological changes in addiction	Biological changes in addiction
8	Biological changes in addiction	Biological changes in addiction
9	Psychological processes in addiction	Psychological processes in addiction
10	Comorbid addiction and mental health	Comorbid addiction and mental health
11	Behavioural addictions	Behavioural addictions
12	Advances in research	Advances in research

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the effects of a range of drugs of abuse, including nicotine and alcohol

2. Demonstrate an understanding of adaptation in the body and brain that arise with continued drug use

3. Understand the processes that drive behavioural addictions

4. Analyse the factors that impact on the chance that someone will develop an addiction

5. Describe the psychological processes that affect continued drug use or problem gambling behaviour

6. Describe recent developments in our understanding of the biological basis of addiction and comorbidities

7. Discuss origins of addiction in a professional and culturally sensitive manner

最新糖心Vlog Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1-6
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	4
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	7
Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.	4,7
Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.	7
Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.	7

Learning & Teaching Modes

In this course we will use interactive lectures and online resources to provide the students with new material to increase their understanding of the topic. The workshops will be used to discuss the nuances in smaller groups such as looking at life trajectories and lived experiences and help them to discuss issues in a professional and culturally sensitive way. We feel it is important to help students understand the human angle, show the stories behind the people with addiction to help them understand life trajectories.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The total weekly workload for this course is 12 hours per week with a contact time of 3-4 hours per week;
as a guide it is comprised of the following activities:
Lectures including preparation: 4 hours p.w.
Workshops including preparation: 3 hours p.w.
Study, test and exam revision; preparation group presentation: 5 hours p.w.

Learning Activities Summary

Week	lecture (2 lectures each week)	Workshop
1	Biological and Psychosocial factors in drug use and addiction	What is addiction?
2	Individual differences in susceptibility to addiction: Biological and Psychological	Individual differences
3	Individual differences in susceptibility to addiction: Social experiences and Life Span	Long impact of trauma
4	The brain and brain signalling	How drugs affect our brain and behaviour
5	Different drugs-different effects	Patterns of alcohol and drug use
6	Different drugs-different effects	Abuse liability of drugs
7	Biological changes in addiction	Biological changes with continued drug use
8	Biological changes in addiction	Biology of addiction
10	Psychological factors in addiction	Psychological processes
11	Having both addiction and mental health problems	Impact of comorbidity
12	Behavioural Addictions	Drug versus behavioural addictions
13	Advances in research	Group work

The 最新糖心Vlog's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Weighting	Learning Outcome(s)
Online quizzes	Formative	0%	1 - 6
Online tests	Summative	30%	1 - 6
Workshop attendance and participation	Summative	15%	1 - 7
Presentation	Summative	10%	1 - 7
Exam	Summative	45%	1 - 6

Assessment Related Requirements

Students need to attend and be involved in at least 50% of the weekly workshops.

Assessment Detail

Online quizzes - students will have access to online quizzes to test their understanding of the topics.

Online tests - students will sit three online MCQ content tests to test their understanding of the content.

Workshop attendance and participation- Students will be provided with workshop activities and answer questions during workshop sessions.

Presentation- groups of students will be asked to research one aspect of biology of addictions and present on how this impacts the chance that someone will develop or maintain addictive behaviour.

Exam - students will complete an exam covering course lecture content.

Submission

The majority of tasks will be submission through MyUni.

Late submissions of any student work are not acceptable. Coursework received after the deadline will be penalised as follows:10% of total available points will be penalised per day (24 hour period or fraction thereof). An automatic zero mark will be applied after 7 days.

If you miss an assessment test e.g. from illness, you are required to present medical or compassionate certification to be eligible to sit a supplementary test. Such certificates need to be provided to The Course Coordinator directly within one week of the test date. The date and time of the supp. test is then determined by the Course Coordinator and is not negotiable. Students will be informed of the supp. test date by email.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through .

Student Feedback

The 最新糖心Vlog places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the 最新糖心Vlog to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

This is a new course, so SELT's are not available yet.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.

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Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator

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