title: What is Alcoholics Anonymous affiliation?
abstract: An increasing body of research evidence supports the use of 12-step program affiliation as an effective adjunct and aftercare for formal treatment. Recently, three brief (9- or 10-item) measures of affiliation have been developed. However, the brief scales are difficult to interpret, and the question of exactly what is affiliation (or disaffiliation) remains unclear. This analysis examines the question of what is the essence of affiliation vs. disaffiliation. Data from the Project MATCH 1-year posttreatment Alcoholics Anonymous Involvement (AAI) scale (N=1506) are used to identify the most salient items of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) affiliation predicting 1-year posttreatment drinking outcomes. Analysis using stepwise regression suggests that a three-item solution can explain a similar amount of variance in the proportion of days abstinent in months 9 through 12 posttreatment, as does using the nine items. These three "core items predicting recovery" include AA attendance, sum of steps completed, and identifying self as an AA member. As an affiliation composite scale, these three items are easier to interpret and administer than the full AAI scale, and when combined, possess adequate reliability (alpha=0.72).
authors.affiliation: Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA. rick.cloud@louisville.edu
authors.forename: Richard N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Cloud
authors.forename: Craig H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Blondell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000436:Alcoholics Anonymous; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012933:Social Identification; D013695:Temperance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States