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Assessing Youth Participation in AA‐Related Helping: Validity of the Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS) Questionnaire in an Adolescent Sample
Author(s) -
Pagano Maria E.,
Kelly John F.,
Scur Michael D.,
Ionescu Rebecca A.,
Stout Robert L.,
Post Stephen G.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2013.00322.x
Subject(s) - sobriety , clinical psychology , addiction , psychology , scale (ratio) , convergent validity , medicine , psychometrics , psychiatry , internal consistency , physics , quantum mechanics
Background and Objectives The positive outcomes derived from participation in Alcoholics Anonymous‐related helping (AAH) found among adults has spurred study of AAH among minors with addiction. AAH includes acts of good citizenship in AA, formal service positions, public outreach, and transmitting personal experience to another fellow sufferer. Addiction research with adolescents is hindered by few validated assessments of 12‐step activity among minors. This study provides psychometric findings of the “Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS)” questionnaire as completed by youths. Methods Multi‐informant data was collected prospectively from youth self‐reports, clinician‐rated assessments, biomarkers, and medical chart records for youths (N = 195) after residential treatment. Results Few youths (7%) did not participate in any AAH during treatment. Results indicated the SOS as a unidimensional scale with adequate psychometric properties, including inter‐informant reliability (r = .5), internal consistency (alpha = .90), and convergent validity (rs = −.3 to .3). Programmatic AAH activities distinguished abstinent youths in a random half‐sample, and replicated on the other half‐sample. The SOS cut‐point of 40 indicated high AAH participation. Conclusions and Significance The SOS appears to be a valid measure of AAH, suggesting clinical utility for enhancing treatment and identifying service opportunities salient to sobriety. (Am J Addict 2013;22:60‐66)