Maintaining recovery from alcohol use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic: The importance of recovery capital

Gilbert, Paul A.; Soweid, Loulwa; Kersten, Sarah; Brown, Grant; Zemore, Sarah E.; Mulia, Nina; Skinstad, Anne Helene

doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.109142

Cited by 19 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…Our key finding was that having a longer duration of self‐help membership was a strong protective factor against drinking during the pandemic in both men and women. This was consistent with previous research findings showing that a longer recovery period reduces the risk of strong craving (Bonny‐Noach & Gold, 2021) and relapse (Gilbert et al, 2021). Therefore, it is important to maintain the continuity of SHG meeting even in an emergency.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Moreover, our results showed gender differences in the proportion of drinkers and their reasons for drinking, which was inconsistent with a prior study that showed no gender difference in the frequency of mild relapses (Gilbert et al, 2021). However, regarding the reasons for drinking, they should be interpreted with caution because each cell size, particularly women, is small.…”

Section: Ta B L E 1 (Continued)contrasting

confidence: 99%

“…A national survey of U.S. military veterans found no difference in AUD prevalence before and after COVID‐19, which was around 10% (Na et al, 2021). Furthermore, from a knowledge‐panel study of people with resolved AUD ( N = 1492), 2.7% resumed drinking after being abstinent, and 3.1% reported increasing drinking (Gilbert et al, 2021). A survey involving patients with pre‐existing AUD also reported a relapse rate of 6.6% ( N = 12/182; Kim et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of COVID‐19 and restricted self‐help group attendance on drinking behavior among people with alcohol use disorder: Results of a nationwide cross‐sectional survey

Nitta,

Matsushita

2023

Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research

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BackgroundConcerns regarding symptom severity and the risk of relapse among people seeking recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) have been raised since the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Owing to preventive measures implemented during the pandemic (social distancing or lockdown), self‐help group (SHG) meetings were restricted. However, the impact of deprivation of onsite recovery meetings on drinking behavior and risk among SHG members with AUD remains unclear. We aimed to identify the proportion of SHG members who reported drinking and their reasons for drinking during the early stages of the pandemic and to examine the effect of non‐attendance at onsite recovery meetings on drinking behavior during the early pandemic period, stratified by gender.MethodsA national cross‐sectional survey of 6,478 Japanese SHG members was conducted, and self‐reported alcohol consumption, sociodemographic characteristics, AUD diagnosis, treatment status, SHG meeting attendance, membership duration, psychological distress, and health‐related variables were examined. Of these 6,478 members, 2,955 (male: n = 2,678; female: n = 277; response rate: 46.7%) responded, and the responses were analyzed using a gender‐stratified multivariate logistic regression model.ResultsMost participants reported to have abstained from alcohol use, while 6% of the respondents reported having consumed alcohol during the early stages of the pandemic. The proportion of “drinkers” among women (10.5%) was significantly higher than that among men (5.9%) (p = 0.012). Through multivariate model analysis, the factors associated with drinking during the pandemic were identified as psychological distress (among men and women) and not attending onsite recovery meetings (among men). Conversely, a longer duration of SHG membership was associated with reduced drinking during the pandemic for both genders.ConclusionsMost SHG members appear to have remained abstinent during the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic. However, the inability to attend recovery meetings may have influenced the drinking behavior of men.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Ta B L E 1 (Continued)contrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Impact of COVID‐19 and restricted self‐help group attendance on drinking behavior among people with alcohol use disorder: Results of a nationwide cross‐sectional survey

Nitta,

Matsushita

2023

Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research

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“…Details of the parent study have been previously reported (Gilbert et al., 2021). Briefly, in fall 2020 we recruited members of KnowledgePanel, a probability‐based cohort of non‐institutionalized adults, for an online survey about recovery.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Everybody needs to find the best path for them”: Insights into recovery strategies of people who have not used specialty treatment for alcohol use disorder

Soweid,

Gilbert,

Maharjan

et al. 2024

Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research

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BackgroundMost people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) do not use treatment services, yet the majority ultimately resolve their AUD. As the phenomenon of untreated recovery remains poorly understood, we investigated the strategies used for recovery without treatment.MethodsWe conducted semi‐structured interviews with 65 adults (27 women, 37 White) with resolved AUD and no history of using specialty services (e.g., inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation, medication‐assisted treatment). Using both inductive and deductive coding, we identified and elaborated themes and meanings. We verified our findings through nine member‐check sessions with interviewers and interview participants.ResultsMajorities of interview participants met criteria for severe lifetime AUD (84.6%), were in long‐term recovery (>5 years; 81.5%), and indicated abstinence was their recovery goal (56.9%). Close to half (41.5%) had attended mutual‐help groups (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous). We identified five active strategies (Changing Contexts, Social Connections. Activities, Substitution, and Other Strategies) and four additional factors (Mutual‐help Groups, Self‐Reliance, Spirituality, and Aging/Maturing) that contributed to their recovery. Most participants employed multiple strategies and were intentional in adopting the ones that best suited them. By far, the two most common strategies were Changing Contexts (reported by 69.2% of participants) whereby people reduced their alcohol exposure by modifying social networks or physical settings and relying on Social Connections (reported by 67.7%), especially connections to people with similar lived experiences and struggles. Notably, Social Connections and Mutual‐Help groups were the themes most often discussed jointly. Among other contributing factors mentioned, Spirituality appeared to play an important, but not universal, role as it was invoked by approximately half (49.2%) of participants.ConclusionsOur study confirms that recovery without specialty treatment is possible, and that multiple strategies and contributing factors help to achieve it. These findings may inform novel interventions to support recovery among people unwilling or unable to obtain treatment for AUD.

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“…Recovery capital has been shown to be positively correlated with reduced alcohol relapse in alcohol use disorder (AUD) 18 and likelihood of past 30-day alcohol abstinence in OUD 19 . Within an OUD cohort engaged with treatment, RC has been shown to improve over time along with a reduction in total illicit substance use 20 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery Capital Correlates With Less Methamphetamine Use and Crime in the Community

et al. 2023

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Objectives Reentry postcorrectional involvement is a high-risk time for patients with a history of addiction. We investigated whether participation in an addiction medicine clinic with active case management led to improvements in patients' recovery capital and whether there were associated changes in criminal activity and co-occurring methamphetamine or alcohol use. Methods Participants (n = 136) were patients with an opioid or stimulant use disorder who had Department of Corrections involvement in the preceding year, who completed the Assessment of Recovery Capital (ARC) and reported criminal activity and days of methamphetamine or alcohol use twice over a 6-month study. Three logistic regression models were used to assess changes in total ARC with criminal activity, alcohol use, and methamphetamine use over the previous 30 days. Results Baseline mean (SD) ARC scores were 34.1 (11.1) and increased to a mean (SD) score of 40.3 (9.4) at study end. A 1-SD shift in ARC was significantly protective across outcomes, with adjusted odds ratios of 0.32, 0.18, and 0.34 for any past 30-day criminal activity, alcohol use, or methamphetamine use. There was no significant difference in baseline ARC, crimes committed, days of alcohol use, or days of methamphetamine use for study completers versus noncompleters; however, unmeasured confounders may have had a differential impact on retention. Conclusions Recovery capital provides an additional framework to help address patients' substance use and criminal activity in a multifaceted way, which is especially important in the postincarceration community. Recovery capital is dynamic and has multiple areas to target psychosocial interventions.

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Maintaining recovery from alcohol use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic: The importance of recovery capital

Cited by 19 publications

References 43 publications

Impact of COVID‐19 and restricted self‐help group attendance on drinking behavior among people with alcohol use disorder: Results of a nationwide cross‐sectional survey

Impact of COVID‐19 and restricted self‐help group attendance on drinking behavior among people with alcohol use disorder: Results of a nationwide cross‐sectional survey

“Everybody needs to find the best path for them”: Insights into recovery strategies of people who have not used specialty treatment for alcohol use disorder

Recovery Capital Correlates With Less Methamphetamine Use and Crime in the Community

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