Spirituality and Recovery from Familial Aspects of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems: Analysis of an Online Al-Anon Meeting

Roth, Jeffrey D.; Fagpa,; Fasam,; Tan, Emjay M.

doi:10.1080/07347320802346998

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Similarly, in the Al‐Anon membership survey, 47% of identified drinkers were reported to be members of Alcoholics Anonymous. Our finding that drinkers of members were more likely than those of newcomers to have attended 12‐step groups supports the suggestion that there may be reciprocity between a CO's Al‐Anon participation and the drinker's 12‐step group participation, although more rigorously designed prospective studies are needed to examine this hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Al-Anon family groups' newcomers and members: Concerns about the drinkers in their lives

et al. 2014

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Background and Objectives Despite Al-Anon’s widespread availability and use, knowledge is lacking about the drinkers in attendees’ lives. We filled this gap by describing and comparing Al-Anon newcomers’ and members’ reports about their “main drinker” (main person prompting initial attendance). Methods Al-Anon’s World Service Office mailed a random sample of groups, yielding completed surveys from newcomers (N = 362) and stable members (N = 265). Results Newcomers’ and members’ drinkers generally were comparable. They had known their drinker for an average of 22 years and been concerned about his or her’s drinking for 9 years; about 50% had daily contact with the drinker. Most reported negative relationship aspects (drinker gets on your nerves; you disagree about important things). Newcomers had more concern about the drinker’s alcohol use than members did, and were more likely to report their drinkers’ driving under the influence. Drinkers’ most frequent problem due to drinking was family arguments, and most common source of help was 12-step groups, with lower rates among drinkers of newcomers. Concerns spurring initial Al-Anon attendance were the drinker’s poor quality of life, relationships, and psychological status; goals for initial attendance reflected these concerns. Discussion and Conclusions The drinker’s alcohol use was of less concern in prompting initial Al-Anon attendance, and, accordingly, the drinker’s reduced drinking was a less frequently endorsed goal of attendance. Scientific Significance Family treatments for substance use problems might expand interventions and outcome domains beyond abstinence and relationship satisfaction to include the drinker’s quality of life and psychological symptoms and in turn relieve concerns of family members.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Al-Anon family groups' newcomers and members: Concerns about the drinkers in their lives

et al. 2014

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“…These fi ndings support the hypothesis that the social interactions prescribed by 12-step programs tend to be aversive or diffi cult if the individual is relatively avoidant of social attachment. Such individuals might particularly benefi t from the availability of Internet-based meetings (Roth and Tan, 2008) as supplements to direct social interactions they may fi nd aversive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment Avoidance and Anxiety as Predictors of 12-Step Group Engagement

Jenkins

Tonigan²

2011

J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs

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ABSTRACT. Objective: Twelve-step mutual help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) rely heavily on social interactions and support to reduce drinking, but little is known about how individual differences in social behavior tendencies, such as adult attachment, affect 12-step group engagement and resulting benefi ts. This prospective study investigated relationships between the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of adult attachment and subsequent 12-step meeting attendance, program behaviors, sponsorship, and alcohol use. Method: Early 12-step group affi liates (N = 253) were recruited from community-based AA and from outpatient treatment. Participants completed baseline interviews that included the Relationship Questionnaire, measures of motivation and professional treatment, and measures of 12-step meeting attendance, practices, and sponsorship. Follow-up interviews were conducted at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. Results: At baseline, participants reported elevated attachment anxiety relative to a college population. Lagged analyses demonstrated that, as predicted, high attachment avoidance was related to lower rates of 12-step meeting attendance, practice of behaviors prescribed by 12-step organizations, and lower probability of acquiring a sponsor. Attachment anxiety did not predict any of these aspects of subsequent 12-step group engagement. Contrary to predictions, baseline attachment avoidance did not moderate the relationship between early sponsorship and alcohol use. Conclusions: Findings support the hypothesis that social demands of behaviors prescribed by 12-step groups may deter high-avoidance individuals from fully engaging in them. Perhaps because of instability in attachment avoidance in this population, however, baseline attachment avoidance did not predict drinking outcomes or moderate sponsor benefi ts. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 72, 854-863, 2011) (Finney et al., 1999;Kelly et al., 2006;Timko et al., 2000;Tonigan et al., 1996b). The 12-step program at the core of AA has been extended to other popular organizations such as Narcotics Anonymous. Benefi ts of 12-step group engagement are explained by a combination of 12-step-specifi c mechanisms (Kelly et al., 2010b;Robinson et al., 2007) and common change mechanisms (e.g., Forcehimes and Tonigan, 2008). Problem drinkers do not respond uniformly to 12-step groups; however, dropout rates are high (e.g., Kelly and Moos, 2003;Thurstin et al., 1987), and a substantial proportion of those who do attend meetings nevertheless report continued drinking and illicit drug use (e.g., Tonigan and Rice, 2010). These fi ndings highlight the importance of identifying the characteristics of problem drinkers that predict 12-step group affi liation and degree of engagement.Few consistent predictors of affi liation with 12-step organizations have been identifi ed. The most robust fi nding has been the positive association between alcohol problem severity and group engagement: greater alcohol problem severity predicted both initiation of group affi liation (Emric...

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“…Die Wirksamkeit der Al-Anon Familiengruppen ist gut belegt, weil sie in Studien, die die Wirksamkeit anderer Verfahren belegen wollten, oft als Kontrollgruppe eingesetzt wurden (Kirby, Marlowe, Festinger, Garvey & LaMonaca, 1999;Meyers, Miller, Smith & Tonigan, 2002;Miller, Meyers & Tonigan, 1999 (Roth & Tan, 2007;Roth & Tan, 2008).…”

Section: Empirische üBerprüfungunclassified

Angehörige von drogenabhängigen Menschen – Suchterkrankungen aus einer anderen Perspektive

Ruckstuhl

2017

Suchttherapie

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ZusammenfassungDie Situation von Angehörigen von heroin- und kokainabhängigen Menschen wurde in der Schweiz bisher nur wenig wissenschaftlich untersucht. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat deshalb einen explorativen Charakter. Im Zentrum der Untersuchung stand die Frage, welche Auswirkungen die Suchterkrankung eines nahestehenden Menschen auf die psychische Gesundheit der Angehörigen hat und welche Rolle Bewältigungsstrategien in diesem Zusammenhang spielen. Mittels standardisierten Fragebögen wurden die Daten erhoben. Die Auswertung erfolgte über multiple lineare Regressionsmodelle, die folgende Ergebnisse brachten: Je stärker sich Angehörige durch die Abhängigkeitserkrankung belastet fühlten und je mehr Sorgen sie hatten in Bezug auf Finanzen, Gesundheit, Arbeit und Beziehungen, desto höher war ihr Risiko die Kriterien einer klinisch relevanten Depression zu erfüllen. 27,3% der befragten Angehörigen erfüllten zum Zeitpunkt der Befragung die Kriterien einer klinisch relevanten Depression, was deutlich über der erwarteten 12-Monatsprävalenz von 7% in der Schweizer Bevölkerung lag. Dabei spielen insbesondere die Bewältigungsstrategien, die Angehörige anwenden eine wichtige Rolle. So zeigte sich, dass insbesondere negative Bewältigungsstrategien, die das Stresserleben erhöhen mit einer höheren Depressivität assoziiert sind. Positive Bewältigungsstrategien, die das Stresserleben reduzieren, scheinen dagegen keine protektive Wirkung zu haben. Insgesamt legen die Ergebnisse nahe, dass Angehörige in der Schweiz besser unterstützt und in der Forschung als auch im klinischen Alltag mehr Beachtung bekommen sollten.

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Spirituality and Recovery from Familial Aspects of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems: Analysis of an Online Al-Anon Meeting

Cited by 12 publications

References 24 publications

Al-Anon family groups' newcomers and members: Concerns about the drinkers in their lives

Al-Anon family groups' newcomers and members: Concerns about the drinkers in their lives

Attachment Avoidance and Anxiety as Predictors of 12-Step Group Engagement

Angehörige von drogenabhängigen Menschen – Suchterkrankungen aus einer anderen Perspektive

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