CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 310Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesHomelessness and Social IssuesOpioid Use Disorder Treatment

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 45 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Social networks as mediators of the effect of Alcoholics Anonymous

Kaskutas, Lee Ann, Bond, Jason, Humphreys, Keith·2002·Addiction
DOI 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00118.x
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Aims: This study tested the hypothesis that the relationship between Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) involvement and reduced substance use is partially explained (or ‘mediated’) by changes in social networks. Design: This is a naturalistic longitudinal study of the course of alcohol problems. Setting: Study sites were the 10 largest public and private alcohol treatment programs in a northern California county. Participants: Three hundred and seventy‐seven men and 277 women were recruited upon seeking treatment at study sites. Measurements: At baseline and 1‐year follow‐up, we assessed alcohol consequences and dependence symptoms, consumption, social support for abstinence, pro‐drinking social influences and AA involvement. Findings: In the structural equation model, AA involvement was a significant predictor of lower alcohol consumption and fewer related problems. The size of this effect decreased by 36% when network size and support for drinking were included as mediators. In logistic regression models predicting abstinence at follow‐up, AA remained highly significant after including social network variables but was again reduced in magnitude. Thirty‐day abstinence was predicted by AA involvement (OR = 2.9), not having pro‐drinking influences in one's network (OR = 0.7) and having support for reducing consumption from people met in AA (versus no support; OR = 3.4). In contrast, having support from non‐AA members was not a significant predictor of abstinence. For alcohol‐related outcomes other than abstinence, significant relationships were found for both AA‐based and non‐AA‐based support. Conclusions: The type of social support specifically given by AA members, such as 24‐hour availability, role modeling and experientially based advice for staying sober, may help to explain AA's mechanism of action. Results highlight the value of focusing on outcomes reflective of AA's goals (such as abstinence) when studying how AA works.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00118.x

Cites

43 of 43 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Citations

Cites

Show all 45 references

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. 10.1080/09652149542346 · DOI
  2. Kaskutas L. A., 1989, Women for Sobriety: a qualitative analysis., Contemporary Drug Problems, 16, 177
  3. Kaskutas L. A., 1997, Technical Report on the Alcohol Treatment Utilization Study in Public and Private Sectors
  4. 10.1080/09652149834801 · DOI
  5. Prochaska J., 1984, Treating Addictive Behviors: Processes of Change, 3
  6. 10.1080/09652149542319 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Kaskutas, L. A., Bond, J., & Humphreys, K.
Affiliations
  • Alcohol Research Group (US)
  • Stanford University (US)
Corresponding author
Kaskutas, Lee Ann
ORCID
Humphreys, Keith
Venue
Addiction
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2002-06-25
Volume
97
Issue
7
Pages
891-900
ISSN
  • 0965-2140 (ISSN-L)
  • 1360-0443
DOI
10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00118.x
OpenAlex
W2113580683
Cited by
308
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 15
FWCI
7.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Addiction (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA09750, AA-05595, R01AA009750)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homelessness and Social Issues
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
Keywords
Alcoholics Anonymous, social networks, social support, abstinence, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, peer support groups, mechanism of action, alcoholism treatment, network size
MeSH terms
Adult, Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholism, Analysis of Variance, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Regression Analysis, Social Support, Treatment Outcome

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review