Six-Month Changes in Spirituality and Religiousness in Alcoholics Predict Drinking Outcomes at Nine Months

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: Although spiritual change is hypothesized to contribute to recovery from alcohol dependence, few studies have used prospective data to investigate this hypothesis. Prior studies have also been limited to treatment-seeking and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) samples. This study included alcohol-dependent individuals, both in treatment and not, to investigate the effect of spiritual and religious (SR) change on subsequent drinking outcomes, independent of AA involvement. Method: Alcoholics (N = 364) were recruited for a panel study from two abstinence-based treatment centers, a moderation drinking program, and untreated individuals from the local community. Quantitative measures of SR change between baseline and 6 months were used to predict 9-month drinking outcomes, controlling for baseline drinking and AA involvement. Results: Signifi cant 6-month changes in 8 of 12 SR measures were found, which included private SR practices, beliefs, daily spiritual experiences, three measures of forgiveness, negative religious coping, and purpose in life. Increases in private SR practices and forgiveness of self were the strongest predictors of improvements in drinking outcomes. Changes in daily spiritual experiences, purpose in life, a general measure of forgiveness, and negative religious coping also predicted favorable drinking outcomes. Conclusions: SR change predicted good drinking outcomes in alcoholics, even when controlling for AA involvement. SR variables, broadly defi ned, deserve attention in fostering change even among those who do not affi liate with AA or religious institutions. Last, future research should include SR variables, particularly various types of forgiveness, given the strong effects found for forgiveness of self. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 72, 660-668, 2011)

Spiritus contra Spiritum: Including Spirituality in Addiction Treatments for Recovery, a Systematic Review

“…This increase in spirituality was explained by spiritual practices, involvement in spirituality programmes, or increases in spiritual variables. Findings show that proactive and experiential dimensions of spirituality, such as meditation, instead of cognitive dimensions of spirituality, contributed to recovery and less drinking within the first 6 months [74].…”

Personality and Drinking Behavior in Alcohol Dependence: A Survival Analysis

“…Furthermore, the sample is limited in representing all individuals who are alcohol dependent. Although it includes a wide range of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and the sample is fairly similar to NESARC's (Robinson et al, 2011), these findings may not replicate in other samples of alcoholics. Although relatively diverse, these findings characterize individual with alcohol dependence in a midwestern university town in the United States and may not generalize to individuals in other regions of the world.…”

“…The study was a secondary analysis of data from the University of Michigan Life Transitions Study (Robinson, Krentzman, Webb, & Brower, 2011), a 2-year longitudinal survey of 364 individuals who are alcohol dependent recruited from four sites. All participants were alcohol dependent as measured by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID; First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 1997); had at least one drink in the last 90 days prior to baseline; were older than age 18 years; had no evidence of current psychosis, suicidality, or homicidality; and were literate in English.…”

Meaning-Making, Religiousness and Spirituality in Religiously Founded Substance Misuse Services—A Qualitative Study of Staff and Patients’ Experiences

“…Important issues within this process are forgiveness of others, to be forgiven and, not least, forgiveness of the self. In addition to making meaning, forgiveness of the self has been shown to be a predictor of favourable outcomes regarding future substance misuse [27]. As a source of meaning, such processes are closely connected with well-being where joy, love and comfort experienced in relation to family, friends and other relations are essential goals [14,25].…”