Mode of mutual-help group attendance: Predictors and outcomes in a US national longitudinal survey of adults with lifetime alcohol use disorder.

Autor: Timko C; Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94304, USA. Electronic address: ctimko@stanford.edu., Mericle A; Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA., Vest N; Department of Health Law, Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA., Delk J; Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA., Zemore SE; Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of substance use and addiction treatment [J Subst Use Addict Treat] 2024 Sep; Vol. 164, pp. 209395. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 11.
DOI: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209395
Abstrakt: Introduction: Although attending substance use-focused mutual-help meetings online may reduce attendance barriers, associations of attendance mode with group participation and outcomes are unknown. Using longitudinal data from mutual-help group attendees, this study, after identifying differences in baseline characteristics by attendance mode, examined associations of attendance mode with mutual-help participation (number of meetings attended, involvement) and outcomes (alcohol abstinence, heavy drinking, alcohol problems).
Methods: The Peer Alternatives for Addiction Study 2021 Cohort sampled attendees of 12-step groups (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous), Women for Sobriety, LifeRing Secular Recovery, and/or SMART Recovery in-person and/or online within 30 days before baseline. The baseline sample, recruited in fall 2021, was 531 adults with lifetime alcohol use disorder, followed at 6 (88 %) and 12 months (85 %). Differences in baseline characteristics by attendance mode were tested using Chi-squares and ANOVAs. GEE models examined associations of attendance mode, time, and their interactions with mutual-help group participation and alcohol outcomes. The in-person only mode was compared to the online-only, and to the in-person plus online, modes.
Results: At baseline, 53.7 % of participants had attended only online meetings in the past 30 days, 33.7 % had attended both in-person and online meetings, and 12.6 % had attended only in-person meetings. Online meeting attendees were less likely to endorse lifetime abstinence as an alcohol recovery goal than in-person-only meeting attendees. In adjusted models (including for recovery goal), those attending online meetings only, or both online and in-person meetings, attended a greater number of meetings compared to those attending only in-person meetings. However, online-only attendance was associated with less involvement than in-person-only attendance. In adjusted models, compared to baseline, involvement increased and outcomes improved at follow-ups. Adjusted models examining alcohol outcomes found that no attendance at mutual-help groups at follow-ups was associated with more heavy drinking compared to in-person-only attendance.
Conclusions: Findings inform efforts to ascertain benefits of mutual-help group participation by suggesting that online attendance is associated with attending more meetings, less involvement, and lower endorsement of abstinence as a recovery goal, and is comparable to in-person attendance on alcohol outcomes. In-person attendance may be more beneficial for less heavy drinking than terminating attendance.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None.
(Published by Elsevier Inc.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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