This just sounds like a rehashing of the famous Rat Park experiments, where happy rats in a good (from a rat's perspective) environment refused morphine, but rats in traditional cages guzzled it. It seems like putting rats through little rat challenges would be stimulating and result in happier rats as well.
I think it's a stretch to say that intellectual activities buffer against addiction. I think the simpler explanation here is just that happiness buffers against addiction, which is not as linkbaity since it is common wisdom in recovery circles and has already been shown in other, more famous experiments.
I did degrees in computer science and pure mathematics, had all sorts of nerdy "intellectual" pursuits and still wound up addicted to alcohol, partly because I was deeply depressed and unhappy with who I was. Anecdotal, true, but I offer it as counterpoint to the handful of "I do nerdy stuff and am not an addict, ergo this article must be correct" comments in here.
I'd imagine a blanket statement about what works for everyone is misguided, yeah. "If you have intellectual pursuits, that will prevent addiction" obviously can't be stated as a fact. I'd imagine it's much more complex and maybe contingent on various factors, like how individuals calculate self-worth and what types of emotional or life experiences folks feel they are lacking on a day-to-day basis. Or something along those lines.
But I have read research that shows there are some signs of predisposition towards drugs. Assuming those studies were thorough, then that's probably also a component. I guess the next step is repeating and then teasing out how important certain factors are when it comes to prevention / prediction.
The majority of the serious addicts I have known have been intelligent emotionally sensitive people and many of them kept themselves busy. The common factor between them all has been management of severe emotional pain.
I think it's a stretch to say that intellectual activities buffer against addiction. I think the simpler explanation here is just that happiness buffers against addiction, which is not as linkbaity since it is common wisdom in recovery circles and has already been shown in other, more famous experiments.
I did degrees in computer science and pure mathematics, had all sorts of nerdy "intellectual" pursuits and still wound up addicted to alcohol, partly because I was deeply depressed and unhappy with who I was. Anecdotal, true, but I offer it as counterpoint to the handful of "I do nerdy stuff and am not an addict, ergo this article must be correct" comments in here.