Articles

Alcoholics Anonymous Benifits in Recovery (2011)

Method: Adults (N = 1,726) participating in a randomized controlled trial of psychosocial treatments for alcohol use disorder (Project MATCH) were assessed at treatment intake, and 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 months on their AA attendance, spiritual / religious practices, and alcohol use outcomes using validated measures. General linear modeling (GLM) and controlled lagged mediational analyses were utilized to test for mediational effects.

Results: Controlling for a variety of confounding variables, ... AA was ... consistently associated with better subsequent alcohol outcomes, ... this mediational effect was demonstrated across both outpatient and aftercare samples and both alcohol outcomes (proportion of abstinent days; drinks per drinking day).

Kelly, F., Stout, R., Magill, M., Tonigan, S., & Pagano, M. (2011) Spirituality in recovery: A lagged mediational analysis of alcoholics anonymous’ principal theoretical mechanism of behavior change. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Vol. 35, No. 3 March 2011

Project Match (1998)

Project Match is the largest study of it’s kind ever undertaken. Today the findings are still considered significant and guild addiction treatment around the world. Reports 3yr outcomes for 952 clients who had been treated in the 5 outpatient sites of Project MATCH, a multisite clinical trial designed to test a priori client treatment matching hypotheses. With regard to the matching effects, client anger demonstrated the most consistent interaction in the trial, with significant matching effects evident at both the 1-yr and 3-yr follow-ups. As predicted, clients high in anger fared better in Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) than in the other 2 MATCH treatments: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Twelve-Step Facilitation (TSF). Among Ss in the highest 3rd of the anger variable, clients treated in MET had on average 76.4% abstinent days, whereas their counterparts in the other 2 treatments (CBT and TSF) had on average 66% abstinent days. Conversely, clients low in anger performed better after treatment in CBT and TSF than in MET. With regard to overall outcomes, the reductions in drinking that were observed in the 1st yr after treatment were sustained over the 3yr follow-up period. As in the 1yr follow-up, there were few differences among the 3 treatments, although TSF continued to show a possible slight advantage.

Capri Trust utilised all three of the above treatment approaches, Motivational Enhancement Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Twelve-Step Facilitation.

Project MATCH Research Group. (1998). Matching alcoholism treatments to client heterogeneity: Project MATCH three-year drinking outcomes. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 22(6), 1300-1311.