Abstinence Violation Defect
Cognitive-behavioral phenomenon that occurs when an individual who is trying to maintain abstinence from a certain behavior experiences a lapse or relapse, leading to feelings of guilt, shame, and hopelessness.
Origin
G. Alan Marlatt and Judith R. Gordon first described the effect as part of their cognitive-behavioral model of relapse, developed at the University of Washington and formally presented in their 1985 book Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors. Studying how people respond to a first lapse after abstinence, Marlatt found that attributing the slip to personal failure — rather than situational triggers — dramatically increased the likelihood of full relapse. The model has since been applied to dieting, exercise, and other self-regulatory domains.