When people collaborate to recall information, they experience collaborative inhibition, a deficit in recall relative to nominal groups (the pooled, nonredundant recall of individuals working alone). That is, people recalling in groups do not perform up to their potential. Collaborative inhibition may be due to retrieval interference (e.g., B. H. Basden, D. R. Basden, S. Bryner, & R. L. Thomas, 1997) or to motivational factors such as social loafing in the group situation. Five experiments examined the role of motivational factors by varying monetary incentives, recall criterion, personal accountability, group cohesion, and group gender. Increasing motivation sometimes increased the overall level of recall but failed to eliminate the collaborative inhibition effect. The results suggest that collaboration interferes with an individual's ability to reconstruct his or her knowledge.

Affiliation with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other 12-Step self-help groups is becoming more common at the same time as professional substance abuse treatment services are becoming less available and of shorter duration. As a result of these two trends, patients' outcomes may be increasingly influenced by the degree to which professional treatment programs help patients take maximum advantage of self-help groups. The present study of 3018 treated veterans examined how the theoretical orientation of a substance abuse treatment program affects (1) the proportion of its patients that participate in self-help groups, and, (2) the degree of benefit patients derive from participation in self-help groups. Patients treated in 12-Step and eclectic treatment programs had higher rates of subsequent participation in 12-Step self-help groups than did patients treated in cognitive behavioral programs. Furthermore, the theoretical orientation of treatment moderated the outcome of self-help group participation: As the degree of programs' emphasis on 12-Step approaches increased, the positive relationships of 12-Step group participation to better substance use and psychological outcomes became stronger. Hence, it appears that 12-Step oriented treatment programs enhance the effectiveness of 12-Step self-help groups. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for clinical practice and for future evaluations of the combined effects of treatment and self-help groups.

This study analyzed 376 randomly selected messages (known as “posts”) to investigate the features, patterns, and functions of communication in an on‐line mutual help group (OMHG) for problem drinkers. Consistent with previous OMHG research, the most prevalent form of communication was providing self‐disclosure, followed by providing information/advice. As in face‐to‐face groups, conflict was infrequent and communication was generally warm and supportive. Consistent with previous findings of gender atypicality in OMHG participation, although most problem drinkers are male, 72% of posts for which the author's gender could be identified were written by women. No gender differences were found in communication patterns. The findings suggest that OMHGs may be particularly appealing to individuals with minority status in a problem‐focused community. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

s This study analyzed 376 randomly selected messages (known as "posts") to investigate the features, patterns, and functions of communication in an on-line mutual help group (OMHG) for problem drinkers. Consistent with previous OMHG research, the most prevalent form of communication was providing self-disclosure, followed by providing information/advice. As in face-to-face groups, conflict was infrequent and communication was generally warm and supportive. Consistent with previous findings of gender atypicality in OMHG participation, although most problem drinkers are male, 72% of posts for which the author's gender could be identified were written by women. No gender differences were found in communication patterns. The findings suggest that OMHGs may be particularly appealing to individuals with minority status in a problem-focused community.