Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy and Recovery Using Alcoholics Anonymous ^® : An Integrative Review of the Literature

Abstract

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic health problem in the United States, with social, economic, and personal consequences. The purpose of the current integrative review was to examine recovery from AUD in adult Alcoholics Anonymous® (AA) members working the 12 steps. Databases were searched using a combination of search terms with inclusion criteria of human adult studies published in English between 2010 to 2020. Searching the references of retained records also identified other relevant studies for inclusion. Through the process of two searches and examination of retained records' reference lists, 20 articles were retained. AA outcomes frequently cited are abstinence, improved self-efficacy, improved psychosocial well-being, and improved social networks. These positive outcomes are linked to attendance and participation in AA. There is a deficiency of research specific to how AA works to achieve the ascribed outcomes. This identified gap in the state of the science lays the foundation for future research. [ Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 59 (12), 33–39.]

Research Related to Self-Efficacy in Substance Use Disorders

“…After the issue has been resolved to everyone's satisfaction, the individual's sense of self-efficacy is bolstered even further (mastery experience). By continuing to abstain from alcohol, one can expect a rise in their sense of self-efficacy [10].…”

Personality correlates of past-year alcohol use in individuals with severe alcohol use disorder and a lifetime history of involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous

“…Nevertheless, there is a dearth of knowledge about the specific factors associated with positive outcomes in individuals attending AA recovery groups. Prior studies indicate that the achievement of abstinence is related to improvement in self-efficacy, psychosocial well-being, and the development of new social networks ( Adelman-Mullally et al, 2021 , Pfund et al, 2023 ), but less is known about personality characteristics that may describe successful AA participants and, specifically, how these personality traits are related to alcohol use.…”

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted February 18, 2024. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.16.24302941 doi: medRxiv preprint efficacy, psychosocial well-being, and the development of new social networks (Adelman-Mullally et al, 2021, Pfund et al, 2023, but less is known about personality characteristics that may describe successful AA participants and, specifically, how these personality traits are related to alcohol use.…”

Personality correlates of past‐year alcohol use in individuals with severe alcohol use disorder and a lifetime history of involvement in alcoholics anonymous

“…Nevertheless, there is a dearth of knowledge about the specific factors associated with positive outcomes in individuals attending AA recovery groups. Prior studies indicate that the achievement of abstinence is related to improvement in self‐efficacy, psychosocial well‐being, and the development of new social networks (Adelman‐Mullally et al., 2021; Pfund et al., 2023), but less is known about personality characteristics that may describe successful AA participants and, specifically, how these personality traits are related to alcohol use.…”