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Dynamic Social Networks in Recovery Homes
Author(s) -
Jason Leonard A.,
Light John M.,
Stevens Edward B.,
Beers Kimberly
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/s10464-013-9610-6
Subject(s) - situated , residence , set (abstract data type) , psychology , interpersonal communication , social psychology , social network (sociolinguistics) , health psychology , social relation , interpersonal relationship , public health , sociology , computer science , medicine , demography , nursing , artificial intelligence , world wide web , social media , programming language
Acute treatment aftercare in the form of sober living environments—i.e., recovery houses—provide an inexpensive and effective medium‐term treatment alternative for many with substance use disorders. Limited evidence suggests that house‐situated social relationships and associated social support are critical determinants of how successful these residential experiences are for their members, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying these relationships. This study explored the feasibility of using dynamic social network modeling to understand house‐situated longitudinal associations among individual Alcoholics Anonymous related recovery behaviors, length of residence, dyadic interpersonal trust, and dyadic confidant relationship formation processes. Trust and confidant relationships were measured 3 months apart in U.S. urban‐area recovery houses, all of which were part of a network of substance use recovery homes. A stochastic actor‐based model was successfully estimated from this data set. Results suggest that confidant relationships are predicted by trust, while trust is affected by recovery behaviors and length of residence. Conceptualizing recovery houses as a set of independent, evolving social networks that can be modeled jointly appears to be a promising direction for research.