The Relationship Between Sense of Coherence and Attribution of Responsibility for Problems and Their Solutions, and Cessation of Substance Abuse Over Time

Abstract

The present study deals with personal and psychological characteristics of addicts coping with abstinence from drugs in various stages of recovery. The study focuses primarily on two personal variables: attribution of responsibility for the problem and its solution, and the sense of coherence. Additional factors that were examined in the study are demographic variables, which include those related to drug addiction. The sample included 128 short-term abstinent patients in the early stages of recovery after detoxification, and 40 long-term abstinent former addicts, who have abstained from the use of drugs for two to eight years. The results indicate a higher level of sense of coherence among the long-term abstinent subjects relating to their inner resources. On the other hand, much similarity was found between the groups in relation to the attribution of responsibility variable. In both groups, the majority reports that they attribute responsibility for the solution of the problem to themselves. The findings underscored the significant link between personality variables and coping with the processes of recovery, while an analysis of demographic and addiction variables did not show a significant distinction between the group of long-term abstinent subjects and the short-term abstinent subjects.

Sense of Coherence as a Stable Predictor for Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) Outcome

“…Feigin and Sapir (2005) found that SOC scores were signifi cantly higher among 40 former heroin addicts and polydrug abusers who stopped drug abuse for a period of between two to eight years compared with 128 short-term abstinent patients in the early stages of recovery after detoxification. Chen's (2006) cross-sectional study examined the differ ences in SOC scores among Israeli prisoners recovering from drug and alcohol addiction over various time periods and fo und higher SOC scores in subjects who were abstinent for six to 24 months compared to scores of those who were abstinent for six months or less.…”

“…The characteristic of stability may provide important information about whether SOC is a deep-rooted personality trait that can indicate improved chances for sustained drug abstention, or if SOC is more closely related to specific and transient states and, as such, needs to be reinforced over time for continued therapeutic success (Feigin & Sapir 2005). The aims of the current longitudinal prospective study were to assess the role of SOC in predicting successful outcomes for former heroin addicts in the setting of MMT and to determine whether SOC is a stable parameter over time or one dependent upon given circumstances.…”

“…Several earlier studies had examined the association between SOC and drug addiction in relation to the therapeu tic success of heroin addicts and polydrug users in various settings, such as prisons, inpatient and outpatient wards, therapeutic communities, private facilities, collective/reha bilitation institutions and psychiatric-orientated institutions (Chen 2006;Feigin & Sapir 2005 ;Andersen & Berg 2001;Berg 1996). These studies found SOC to be important in terms of its association with positive treatment outcomes.…”

Poly-substance use and antisocial personality traits at admission predict cumulative retention in a buprenorphine programme with mandatory work and high compliance profile

“…The few studies that have been conducted concerning the impact of the sense of coherence in substance-dependent populations have generally yielded relatively strong relationships between higher sense of coherence and improvement in substance use problems [13,14], or lower mortality rates during follow-up [15,16]. …”

Thematic analysis of Antonovsky’s sense of coherence theory

“…Bengtsson‐Tops & Hansson, 2001; Carstens & Spangenberg, 1997; Cederblad & Hansson, 1996; Eklund, Hansson & Bengtsson‐Tops, 2004; Johnson, 2004; Volanen, Lahelma, Silventoinen & Suominen, 2004; Volanen, Suominen, Lahelma, Koskenvuo & Silventoinen, 2006, 2007; Wolff & Ratner, 1999). In summary, Feigin & Sapir’s (2005, p. 63) literature review found that “the concept of SOC has a broad theoretical base and a growing and impressive body of empirical evidence supporting its utility”.…”