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Britton EM, Taisir R, Cooper A, Remers S, Chorny Y, LaBelle O, Rush B, MacKillop J, Costello MJ. Psychometric Evaluation of an Adapted Short-Form Spirituality Scale in a Sample of Predominantly White Adults in an Inpatient Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program. Assessment 2024; 31:1309-1323. [PMID: 38160429 DOI: 10.1177/10731911231217478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Spirituality is an important aspect of treatment and recovery for substance use disorders (SUDs), but ambiguities in measurement can make it difficult to incorporate as part of routine care. We evaluated the psychometric properties of an adapted short-form version of the Spirituality Scale (the Spirituality Scale-Short-Form; SS-SF) for use in SUD treatment settings. Participants were adult patients (N = 1,388; Mage = 41.23 years, SDage = 11.55; 68% male; 86% White) who entered a large, clinically mixed inpatient SUD treatment program. Factor analysis supported the two-dimensional structure, with factors representing Self-Discovery and Transcendent Connection. Tests of measurement invariance demonstrated that the scale was invariant across age and gender subgroups. The SS-SF exhibited convergent and concurrent validity via associations with participation in spiritual activities, hopefulness, life satisfaction, 12-step participation, and depressive symptoms. Finally, scores on the SS-SF were significantly higher at discharge compared to admission, demonstrating short-term sensitivity to change. These findings support use of the SS-SF as a concise, psychometrically sound measure of spirituality in the context of substance use treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Radia Taisir
- Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Alysha Cooper
- Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Yelena Chorny
- Homewood Health Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Onawa LaBelle
- Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brian Rush
- Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - James MacKillop
- Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mary Jean Costello
- Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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Snodgrass S, Corcoran L, Jerry P. Spirituality in Addiction Recovery: A Narrative Review. JOURNAL OF RELIGION AND HEALTH 2024; 63:515-530. [PMID: 37486580 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-023-01854-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
In the area of addiction, Canada has been in a public health crisis since 2016. Addiction takes a toll on an individual's self-worth and identity. In this narrative literature review, the distinct nature of spirituality was addressed. Next, individualized conceptualizations of spirituality were outlined. Subsequently, the importance of fellowship in addiction recovery was detailed. Next, the significance of being of service was presented. Meaningful and authentic spirituality were discussed in the context of recovery identity. Lastly, spirituality as a personal journey is described. A narrative literature review of 70 manuscripts published between 1999 and 2021 was undertaken to determine multiple approaches to treating addiction recovery in the context of spiritual development. An understanding of spirituality can inform counsellors regarding spiritual development in addiction recovery. Implications for counselling include a roadmap to support clients developing an individualized spiritual connection and operating as a functional system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shelbi Snodgrass
- Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada.
| | - Lynn Corcoran
- Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada
| | - Paul Jerry
- Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada
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Wnuk M. The mechanism underlying the relationship between the spiritual struggles and life satisfaction of Polish codependent individuals participating in Al-Anon – pilot study. JOURNAL OF SPIRITUALITY IN MENTAL HEALTH 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/19349637.2022.2124141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marcin Wnuk
- Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
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The Beneficial Role of Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous for Existential and Subjective Well-Being of Alcohol-Dependent Individuals? The Model Verification. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19095173. [PMID: 35564567 PMCID: PMC9104992 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19095173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Revised: 04/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an important psychosocial factor for the recovery of alcohol-dependent individuals. Recent studies have confirmed the beneficial role of involvement in AA for abstinence and reduction in drinking alcohol. Little is known about the mechanism underlying the relationship between involvement in AA and subjective well-being. This study aims to verify whether in a sample of Polish AA participants involvement in AA is indirectly related to subjective well-being through existential well-being consisting of hope and meaning in life. The achieved results have confirmed that involvement in AA is positively related to existential well-being, which in turn positively predicts subjective well-being including life satisfaction as well as positive and negative affect. It was confirmed that AA involvement in self-help groups indirectly via existential well-being is related to subjective well-being. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
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Do Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous and Religiousness Both Directly and Indirectly through Meaning in Life Lead to Spiritual Experiences? RELIGIONS 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/rel12100794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Spirituality is a key element of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) recovery. However, little is known about the potential religious and secular sources of spiritual experiences in AA fellowship. The aim of the study was to verify if in a sample of AA participants, meaning in life mediates the relationship between their religiousness and spiritual experiences, as well as between their involvement in AA and spiritual experiences. The study sample consisted of 70 Polish AA participants, and the following tools were used: the Alcoholics Anonymous Involvement Scale (AAIS); Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORFQ); Purpose in Life Test (PIL); two one-item measures regarding frequency of prayer and Mass attendance; and the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) duration of AA participation, which was positively related to involvement in addiction self-help groups and religiousness. Involvement in AA and religiousness were positively related to meaning in life, which in turn positively correlated with spiritual experiences. This research indicated that in a sample of AA participants, finding meaning in life partially mediates the relationship between religiousness and spiritual experiences, as well as fully mediating the relationship between involvement in AA and spiritual experiences. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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McInerney K, Garip G, Benson T. “We all need Purpose and Reason to be here.”: A Qualitative Investigation of howmembers of Alcoholics Anonymous with Long-term Recovery Experience Aging. ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/07347324.2021.1947165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Gulcan Garip
- School of Psychology, University of Derby, Derby, UK
| | - Tony Benson
- School of Psychology, University of Derby, Derby, UK
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McInerney K, Cross A. A Phenomenological Study: Exploring the Meaning of Spirituality in Long-term Recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous. ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/07347324.2021.1895016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ainslea Cross
- School of Psychology, University of Derby, Derby, UK
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Galanter M, White WL, Ziegler PP, Hunter B. An empirical study on the construct of "God" in the Twelve Step process. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 2020; 46:731-738. [PMID: 32870030 DOI: 10.1080/00952990.2020.1789870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Background: The term God, included in 5 of the 12 Steps of Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), self-designated spiritual fellowships, has not been studied empirically relative to members' experiences. A greater understanding of this can be clinically useful and can shed light on the 12 Step process of recovery. Objectives: To determine how NA members understand the 12-step concept "God as we understood Him" and the relationship between their understanding of God and the intensity of their craving and depressive symptoms." Methods: 450 (59% male) NA members completed a survey related to their experiences relative to their relationship with "God." The relationship among these variables and comparisons to the general population was analyzed. Craving and depressive symptoms were assessed by self-report. Results: 98% of the NA participants believe in God explicitly or some other higher power (vs 89% of a probability sample of the US population), 67% believe that God determines what happens to them some or all of the time (vs 48%), 78% (vs 28%) report hearing God talking to them "in their mind"; and 37% report that God talks to them "out loud." Acceptance of 12 Step God-related variables inversely predicted a significant portion of the variance of scores on craving (7.5%) and depression (13.5%). Conclusions: Respondents' understanding of God in NA varied considerably and was predictive of their depressive symptoms and craving intensity. These findings can serve as a basis for research into mechanisms underlying NA/AA recovery experiences and can also aid clinicians in how to employ these programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Galanter
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine , New York, NY, USA
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Developing the Spirituality in Recovery Framework: The Function of Spirituality in 12-Step Substance Use Disorder Recovery. JOURNAL OF HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1177/0022167819871742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
A large portion of substance use disorder recovery research has incorporated the study of mutual-aid 12-Step programs and faith-based programs. However, spirituality as a centerpiece of substance use disorder recovery, as an actionable or operationalized means of transformative change, is not well studied. As many individuals in recovery point to spirituality as the chief means by which they have overcome their substance use disorder, this represents a significant gap in the current literature. Though spirituality is difficult to operationalize and measure, several previous studies have examined aspects of the role of spirituality in the recovery process. This current article puts forth a theoretical framework in which leading articles involving spirituality in recovery are synthesized in order to inform a functional, theoretical model of change that can be utilized in future research design.
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Kelly JF. Is Alcoholics Anonymous religious, spiritual, neither? Findings from 25 years of mechanisms of behavior change research. Addiction 2017; 112:929-936. [PMID: 27718303 PMCID: PMC5385165 DOI: 10.1111/add.13590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2016] [Revised: 06/15/2016] [Accepted: 08/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a world-wide recovery mutual-help organization that continues to arouse controversy. In large part, concerns persist because of AA's ostensibly quasi-religious/spiritual orientation and emphasis. In 1990 the United States' Institute of Medicine called for more studies on AA's effectiveness and its mechanisms of behavior change (MOBC) stimulating a flurry of federally funded research. This paper reviews the religious/spiritual origins of AA and its program and contrasts its theory with findings from this latest research. METHOD Literature review, summary and synthesis of studies examining AA's MOBC. RESULTS While AA's original main text ('the Big Book', 1939) purports that recovery is achieved through quasi-religious/spiritual means ('spiritual awakening'), findings from studies on MOBC suggest this may be true only for a minority of participants with high addiction severity. AA's beneficial effects seem to be carried predominantly by social, cognitive and affective mechanisms. These mechanisms are more aligned with the experiences reported by AA's own larger and more diverse membership as detailed in its later social, cognitive and behaviorally oriented publications (e.g. Living Sober, 1975) written when AA membership numbered more than a million men and women. CONCLUSIONS Alcoholics Anonymous appears to be an effective clinical and public health ally that aids addiction recovery through its ability to mobilize therapeutic mechanisms similar to those mobilized in formal treatment, but is able to do this for free over the long term in the communities in which people live.
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Affiliation(s)
- John F Kelly
- MGH Department of Psychiatry, MGH-Harvard Medical School Recovery Research Institute, Boston, MA, USA
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Kurtz LF. The recovery community as a location for secular spirituality. Addiction 2017; 112:939-940. [PMID: 28127807 DOI: 10.1111/add.13716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 11/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Ranes B, Johnson R, Nelson L, Slaymaker V. The Role of Spirituality in Treatment Outcomes Following a Residential 12-Step Program. ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/07347324.2016.1257275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bethany Ranes
- Butler Center for Research, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Center City, Minnesota, USA
| | - Ryan Johnson
- Butler Center for Research, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Center City, Minnesota, USA
| | - Lindsay Nelson
- Butler Center for Research, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Center City, Minnesota, USA
| | - Valerie Slaymaker
- Butler Center for Research, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Center City, Minnesota, USA
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White W, Galanter M, Humphreys K, Kelly J. The Paucity of Attention to Narcotics Anonymous in Current Public, Professional, and Policy Responses to Rising Opioid Addiction. ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/07347324.2016.1217712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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White WL. Commentary: Remembering Ernie Kurtz. ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/07347324.2016.1182821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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White WL, Daneshmand R, Funk R, Dezhakam H. A Pilot Study of Smoking Cessation within an Iranian Addiction Recovery Community. ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/07347324.2016.1113108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
- William L. White
- Chestnut Health Systems; 3329 Sunset Key Circle, Unit 203 Punta Gorda FL 33955 USA
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