Supportive communication and emotional quality of life in alcoholism recovery

The current study is a part of a larger longitudinal research program on the relationships between supportive communication from AA and the short-term and long-term emotional quality of life (EQL) of recovering alcoholics. Although most studies of alcoholism recovery naturally focus on sobriety maintenance, EQL is given a central role in the alcoholism recovery process for several reasons. First, emotional state may be a key factor in alcohol relapse as there is a close association between addiction and emotion. Second, EQL is an important outcome in it's own right. The proposed study will focus on both the AA fellowship (the emotional benefits obtained from the social support available in AA) and the AA program (working the twelve steps) and their impact on EQL in sobriety. We hypothesized that the perceived support of the AA fellowship and an AA sponsor along with other sources of support (support from one's general social network, and support from one's significant other) will promote EQL for recovering alcoholics; and “working the steps” of the AA program improves one's personal relationships and, therefore social support and EQL for alcoholics in recovery. The rival model that EQL predicts social support is also tested. A structural equation model of the cross-sectional data and a three-wave cross-lag panel analysis is used in the current study to examine both the short-term and long-term impacts of AA on EQL among recovering alcoholics.