title: Social support, spiritual program, and addiction recovery.
abstract: This study compared personal and emotional modifications of inmates who were recovering addicts and who participated in one of two year-long therapeutic intervention programs, one including social support and experiential spiritual program components (Narcotics Anonymous, NA, meetings and the 12-step course), the other including primarily social support (NA meetings only, without the 12-step program). The hypothesis was that supplementing social support programs with a concrete spiritual program would result in more positive personal and emotional changes. The results seem to support the hypothesis: Inmates participating in the 12-step program demonstrated a higher sense of coherence and meaning in life and a gradual reduction in the intensity of negative emotions (anxiety, depression, and hostility) than those participating in NA meetings without the 12-step program. The research findings demonstrate the importance of the 12-step program as part of a rehabilitation process for drug addicts.
authors.affiliation: Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
authors.forename: Gila
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003289:Convalescence; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016730:Program Development; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*