 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Sarah Zemore, PhD, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 140 Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, 510-325-3173, szemore@arg.org
People who become involved in AA tend to experience, relative to the uninvolved, better drinking outcomes. Yet almost no research has addressed whether the precise pattern of AA involvement matters-that is, whether the relationship between AA involvement and drinking outcomes is strictly linear. This presentation examines the relationship between patterns of AA involvement (e.g., non-attendance, late initiation, disaffiliation, and consistent attendance) and drinking outcomes in a longitudinal study of 279 individuals seeking professional treatment for alcoholism. The presentation also addresses which factors predispose individuals to certain patterns of attendance and, as part of this topic, how previous and current patterns of attendance relate. (Note that Dr. Tonigan's presentation, this session, addresses the question of how previous and current patterns relate using a different sample.) Key results from Chi square and path analyses suggest that recent AA involvement is the strongest predictor of drinking outcomes, and that, contrary to previous indications (McLatchie & Lomp, 1988), irregular attendance is not worse than nonattendance. In fact, individuals reporting high, recent involvement fared as well - regardless of involvement history - as individuals reporting consistent involvement through the follow-up. By contrast, individuals reporting low, recent involvement fared as poorly - regardless of involvement history - as individuals reporting no involvement through the follow-up (and both of these groups fared substantially worse than high-recent and consistent attenders).
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Substance Abuse, Alcohol Use