Mutual support group (self-help) participation rates after treatment and correlated outcomes among public sector clients

Participation in mutual support groups can be a positive predictor of treatment outcomes such as improvements in rates of abstinence and employment (Humphreys and Gifford 2006). According to Roman and Blum, “Over 90% of substance abuse treatment programs in the United States are at least partially based on AA principles (1997).” Principles of twelve-step based care include acknowledging one's addiction, group participation, fellowship, and twelve-step based recovery processes (Moos 2007). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has identified social connectedness, as measured by client involvement in self-help such as AA, as a National Outcome Measure for its Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant Program and its Programs of Regional and National Significance (PRNS). States reporting on their SAPT Block Grant report State-based data through their annual Block Grant application, and some also report this data through the SAMHSA Treatment Episode Data Set. The SAIS data set collects data from the PRNS grantees. Finally, a demonstration project of nineteen State grantees provided client outcome and process data on a large sample of clients. These data will be examined to present summary data documenting mutual support group participation rates at admission, discharge and follow-up. Analyses will be undertaken to identify significant correlations within these three data sets between mutual support participation and outcomes such as abstinence, employment and criminal justice involvement. Differences in the data set characteristics and data trends will also be discussed. This information will be presented in a student poster.