An Empirically Based Theory of the Relationships among Social Embeddedness, Economic Viability, Learned Recovery Skills and Perceived Quality of Life in Recovery Homes

Abstract

Key characteristics of recovery homes include governance style (which can play a central role in structuring recovery mechanisms), social embeddedness (e.g., social relationships within the home), economic viability (e.g., the individual's ability to be self-supporting), and learned recovery skills (such as coping with stress, avoiding putting one's self in risky situations, etc.). These domains can have important associations with perceived quality of life (measured across physical, psychological, social relationships, and environmental domains). The current study investigated relationships among these key "active ingredients" (Moos, 2007) of recovery homes. In addition, we present dynamic model consistent with these observed relationships, to illustrate how relevant mechanisms interact over time to and affect system evolution. Data were collected from recovery home residents in three states. Findings supported our overall hypotheses indicating that social embeddedness, stress, and self-efficacy were related to quality of life, and policy and treatment-design implications are further examined by simulating system dynamics.Alcohol and drug abuse are among the most expensive health problems in the U.S., totaling about $428 billion annually (Sacks, Gonzales, Bouchery, Tomedi, & Brewer, 2015). Although 8%−9% of the U.S. population has an alcohol or substance use problem at any given time, only 1.5% of the population seek and receive treatment each year for these disorders (about 3.8 million individuals; SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2011). Compounding this gap, even individuals who successfully complete treatment have high relapse rates (SAMHSA, 2017). Some who relapse will eventually end up in homeless shelters or jail; costs for temporary shelter beds range from $19-$85 per day (US. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, 2010), and costs to house a prison inmate is Requests for reprints should be sent to

Psychiatric severity and stress among recovery home residents utilizing medication assisted treatment: a moderated mediation analysis of homophily

“…Oxford Houses are recovery homes that have been researched most extensively [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2020], and they provide community-based therapeutic support that can help persons utilizing MAT in their recovery. A recent investigation found mostly favorable attitudes toward fellow residents who utilized MAT in addition to comparable rates of abstinence, lengths of stay in Oxford Houses and 12-step involvement between residents who utilized and did not utilize MAT (Majer et al , 2020), and research evidence suggests social embeddedness is related to residents’ quality of life (Doogan et al , 2019; Jason et al , 2020). However, Oxford House residents typically attend 12-step groups where some 12-step peers’ dissonant views toward MAT create a stressor among residents who utilize MAT (Monico et al , 2015; Suzuki & Dodds, 2016) that could diminish recovery gains and differences in residents’ approach to recovery in relation to medication use could result in disparate experiences that influence residents’ homophily.…”

Context Matters: Home‐level But Not Individual‐Level Recovery Social Capital Predicts Residents’ Relapse

“…Recovery home residents with higher levels of stability (i.e., agreeableness, conscientiousness, and low neuroticism) tend to have higher scores on self-esteem and lower levels of perceived stress (Reilly, Stevens, & Jason, 2017). Additionally, stress and self-efficacy, as well as social embeddedness, have been associated with quality of life (Jason, Stevens, Doogan, & Light, 2020). Finally, earning capital, like wages, is also important for recovery, by providing stability and expanding individual's options for pursuing recovery (Cloud & Granfield, 2008).…”