Format
Scientific article
Publication Date
Published by / Citation
Estimating the efficacy of Alcoholics Anonymous without self-selection bias: an instrumental variables re-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Humphreys K., Blodgett J.C., Wagner T.H. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research: 2014, 38(11), p. 2688–2694.
Original Language

English

Keywords
alcohol
mutual aid
12-step
Alcoholics Anonymous
treatment
aftercare
meta-analysis
12-step facilitation
abstinence
engagement
methodology
non-residential
Project MATCH
self-selection bias

Does AA Really Help Drinkers Stop?

12-step fellowships offer a way to reconcile shrunken resources with the desire to get more patients safely out of treatment. Accounting for the self-selection bias which has obscured AA’s impacts, this synthesis of US trials finds that attending more meetings after treatment boosts abstinence. Why then is research equivocal on whether promoting attendance significantly improves drink-related outcomes?

Involvement with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) mutual aid groups is associated with better outcomes on alcohol-related, psychological, and social measures, but it has been unclear whether this correlation reflected AA’s effectiveness, or was merely an artefact of AA attracting drinkers who are more motivated to change, less troubled, or more socially stable, who would in any event have done better. Read on...