New identities are adopted across our lifespans, sometimes voluntarily (i.e. The suite of social identities we hold are not fixed.
![the notion of self in the journey back from addiction the notion of self in the journey back from addiction](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0478/4288/5784/files/adiction-prevention-centre-3.jpg)
The Social Identity Model of Cessation Maintenance (SIMCM Frings & Albery, 2015, 2017) argues these effects are present to the extent that social identities provide social support and normative control, increase actual and perceived efficacy, contextualise the meaning of events and behaviours, and guide automatic behavioural tendencies (Frings, Collins, et al., 2016 Frings, Melichar et al., 2016 Frings et al., 2019). Alongside AA, these effects have been observed amongst varied populations, including other group based treatments such as SMART (a group based CBT approach), and in both in-patient, out-patient and peer support settings (Buckingham et al., 2013 Dingle, Stark, et al., 2015 Hutchinson et al., 2018 Wolff et al., 2015). In general, higher levels of recovery related identity, or increased differentiation between addiction and recovery related identities, are associated with positive outcomes (Bathish et al., 2017 Dingle, Stark, et al., 2015 Dingle, Cruwys, et al., 2015 Frings & Albery, 2017). Recently, social identities associated with recovery have been linked with better recovery related outcomes such as treatment retention, abstinence and confidence in one’s ability to maintain treatment goals such as abstinence and harm reduction (Frings & Albery, 2015). The current paper explores how social identities change over the recovery journey amongst a sample of people actively engaging with AA, using a large and diverse cross-sectional sample. One way to understand the operation of these groups is through the lens of social identities (psychological affiliations with social groups Tajfel & Turner, 1979). However, the development of psychosocial mechanisms which underpin the success of AA (and other group-based interventions) are relatively poorly understood. A recent Cochrane Review suggests that AA provides similar outcomes and benefits to other treatment modes, but may be superior in terms of continuous abstinence (Kelly et al., 2020). For alcohol consumption, the Fellowship model (Alcoholics Anonymous AA) is highly prevalent, with around 80% of people seeking recovery in the US having contact (Dawson et al., 2006 Kelly et al., 2010) and active membership in groups such as AA can continue for decades (Frings et al., 2019). in treatment communities or psychotherapeutic groups) or through peer-led organisations such as the recovery Fellowships (such as Alcoholics, Narcotics, Gamblers Anonymous). One effective form of treatment in the addiction space is group therapy, either within a formal therapy setting (i.e. This cost does not count the emotional distress, family breakdown and co-morbid illnesses (both physical and psychological) that affect both those using drugs and the people around them (see Laslett et al., 2019). For instance, in the UK, alcohol and drug addiction costs £36 billion a year from the burden on health-care, welfare and addiction related crime (Centre for Social Justice, 2013). The relative scale of AUD is similar in many other countries (see Davies et al., 2021 for an overview). In the USA, recent figures suggest 19.7 million US citizens aged 12 years or older experience substance abuse issues, including 14.5 million people with alcohol use disorder (AUD Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2018). Our results suggest that social identities may be particularly protective for those who are on their first quit, suggesting recovery formation and transition may be a priority. While those early on in their current AA attendance showed a positive relationship between identities and frequency of attending meetings, those with more long-standing attendance reported social identification unrelated to involvement.
![the notion of self in the journey back from addiction the notion of self in the journey back from addiction](https://blastfferomthepast.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/cropped-img_02551.jpg)
Levels of social identity were stable amongst those in the early in their current recovery through to those who have more experience, but the relationships between identity and efficacy differed. subsequent quit attempts on the identity-efficacy link were also tested.
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The moderating effects of length of AA attendance during the current recovery episode and first vs. Relationships between AA identity, quit efficacy (a proxy for recovery maintenance) and AA meeting attendance (over the last month) were tested. The current study utilised a pre-existing cross-sectional dataset ( n = 237 Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members, 50% male, 49.4% female and 0.6% female-to-male, aged between 19 and 71 years) to explore these issues. How such identities develop and differentially link to outcomes at different points of the recovery journey and across multiple recovery attempts is relatively unknown. Social identities associated with recovery are protective of relapse from addiction.