AA can help young adults, but mechanisms unclear: study
AA can help young adults, but mechanisms unclear: study
(Reuters Health) – Alcoholics Anonymous can help people, young and old, recover from drinking problems, but young adults seem to benefit mainly – and only – from certain aspects of the program, according to a small U.S. study.
The results may help to better tailor AA for a new generation, researchers say, and help young adults feel more comfortable in the heart of the program, the group meetings.
“We now know that in addition to the mechanisms we traditionally target, there may be other mechanisms that are particularly important for younger people,” said Bettina Hoeppner, a psychologist at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, who led the study.
Hoeppner and her team write that young people – who may face more temptations to drink in a social context and have shorter addiction histories, and hence less to share – may face a “barrier” to becoming engaged with the values of AA.
“Yes, it may feel alienating to attend meetings with folks who likely will have quite different life circumstances, but chances are, going to the meetings will help, possibly exactly because the other members will be able to provide a new and wider perspective on substance use and the problems it causes, and the efforts to overcome it,” Hoeppner told Reuters Health.
AA is by far the most accessible support for recovery, with over 100,000 local groups, 2 million members worldwide and no financial cost to join, she said.
The 12-step program with spiritually-grounded principles focuses on helping an addict avoid the compulsion to drink alcohol.
Past research has identified several key ways the regimen helps addicts resist the urge to drink, Hoeppner’s team writes in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
These include learning to cope in a high-risk social context; dealing with setbacks such as depression, anger, boredom and anxiety; embracing spiritual practices; and creating a social network that includes people who drink alcohol as well as those who don’t.
People under age 30 make up only 13 percent of AA’s membership, according to a 2011 survey conducted by the organization, Hoeppner points out, yet “young adults are currently the age group with the
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