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The Influence of Posttreatment Mutual Help Group Participation on the Friendship Networks of Substance Abuse Patients
Author(s) -
Humphreys Keith,
Noke Jennifer M.
Publication year - 1997
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 - 10.1023/a:1024613507082
Subject(s) - friendship , health psychology , substance abuse , mutual aid , public health , psychology , substance abuse treatment , social psychology , substance use , group (periodic table) , psychiatry , clinical psychology , medicine , political science , nursing , law , chemistry , organic chemistry
The effect of 12‐step mutual help groups (e.g., Narcotics Anonymous) on members' friendship networks has received little attention. This 1‐year longitudinal study examined such effects in a sample of 2,337 male substance abuse inpatients, 57.7% of whom became significantly involved in 12‐step activities (e.g., reading program literature, attending meetings) after treatment. An a priori model of the interplay of 12‐step involvement and friendship networks was tested using structural equation modeling, and found to have excellent fit to the data. Twelve‐step group involvement after treatment predicted better general friendship characteristics (e.g., number of close friends) and substance abuse‐specific friendship characteristics (e.g., proportion of friends who abstain from drugs and alcohol) at follow‐up. Results are discussed in terms of how mutual help group involvement benefits patients and how the self‐help group evaluation paradigm should be broadened.