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. 2009 Dec;34(12):1029-35.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.06.015. Epub 2009 Jul 6.

7-year trajectories of Alcoholics Anonymous attendance and associations with treatment

Lee Ann Kaskutas  1 , Jason Bond, Lyndsay Ammon Avalos
Affiliations

7-year trajectories of Alcoholics Anonymous attendance and associations with treatment

Lee Ann Kaskutas et al. Addict Behav. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

Although many members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) are introduced to AA during treatment, the relationship between treatment and AA attendance over time is unknown. This paper describes four latent classes of AA attendance among 586 dependent alcoholics interviewed by telephone 1, 3, 5 and 7 years after baseline, and models the relationship between treatment exposure and AA attendance in each class. There was a low AA group (averaging fewer than 5 meetings at most follow-ups), a medium AA group (about 50 meetings a year at each follow-up), a descending AA group (about 150 meetings year 1, then decreasing steeply), and a high AA group (about 200 meetings at 1 year, then decreasing gradually by year 7). Declines in meeting attendance were not always accompanied by decreases in abstinence. After accounting for the effect of time on AA attendance (i.e., the "ups-and-downs" that occur over time), treatment exposure was minimally related to AA attendance in all but the descending AA group, where it was negatively associated (p<0.001). Considering AA patterns over time highlights a different role for treatment in AA attendance than what is gleaned from analyses at single timepoints.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean Number of AA Meetings by Group and Time
Figure 2
Figure 2
Treatment Exposure Rates by Group and Time
Figure 3
Figure 3
30-day Alcohol Abstinence Rates by Group and Time
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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