TY - JOUR
T1 - Young people in alcoholics anonymous
T2 - The role of spiritual orientation and AA member affiliation
AU - Galanter, Marc
AU - Dermatis, Helen
AU - Santucci, Courtney
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was undertaken with support from The John Templeton Foundation. Address correspondence to Marc Galanter, MD, Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, NYU School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016. E-mail: marcgalanter@nyu.edu
PY - 2012/4/1
Y1 - 2012/4/1
N2 - Empirical findings characterizing long-term, committed Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members are limited, particularly among younger members. The authors studied a sample of 266 highly committed attendees (mean age, 27 years) at an annual conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous (YPAA), whose first encounter with AA was 6 years previously. Most (72%) had abused drugs and alcohol, and 36% had never received substance abuse treatment. They now reported a mean duration of abstinence of 44 months and had attended an average of 233 AA meetings in the previous year; 66% had served as AA sponsors, and 92% reported experiencing an AA "spiritual awakening," itself associated with a decreased likelihood of alcohol craving. Scores on AA beliefs, affiliation to other members, and the experience of spiritual awakening were associated with lower depression scores. These findings are discussed to clarify the nature of long-term AA membership.
AB - Empirical findings characterizing long-term, committed Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members are limited, particularly among younger members. The authors studied a sample of 266 highly committed attendees (mean age, 27 years) at an annual conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous (YPAA), whose first encounter with AA was 6 years previously. Most (72%) had abused drugs and alcohol, and 36% had never received substance abuse treatment. They now reported a mean duration of abstinence of 44 months and had attended an average of 233 AA meetings in the previous year; 66% had served as AA sponsors, and 92% reported experiencing an AA "spiritual awakening," itself associated with a decreased likelihood of alcohol craving. Scores on AA beliefs, affiliation to other members, and the experience of spiritual awakening were associated with lower depression scores. These findings are discussed to clarify the nature of long-term AA membership.
KW - Alcoholics Anonymous
KW - addiction recovery
KW - spirituality
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U2 - 10.1080/10550887.2012.665693
DO - 10.1080/10550887.2012.665693
M3 - Article
C2 - 22540438
AN - SCOPUS:84861314969
SN - 1055-0887
VL - 31
SP - 173
EP - 182
JO - Journal of Addictive Diseases
JF - Journal of Addictive Diseases
IS - 2
ER -