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. 2022;57(13):2009-2014.
doi: 10.1080/10826084.2022.2125276. Epub 2022 Sep 23.

Mutual Help Group Participation for Alcohol and Drug Problems: Uncovering Latent Subgroups

Audrey Hang Hai  1 , Sehun Oh  2 , Catalina Lopez-Quintero  3 , Christina S Lee  4 , John F Kelly  5 , Michael G Vaughn  6   7 , Christopher P Salas-Wright  8
Affiliations

Mutual Help Group Participation for Alcohol and Drug Problems: Uncovering Latent Subgroups

Audrey Hang Hai et al. Subst Use Misuse. 2022.

Abstract

Objective: This report aims to identify US mutual help group (MHG) participants' psycho-socio-behavioral profiles. Method: We used data from the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the sample included 1022 adults with past-year substance use disorders (SUD). We conducted a latent class analysis to identify subgroups of MHG participants and estimated multinomial logistic regression models to examine the associations between sociodemographic/intrapersonal characteristics and class membership. Results: Analyses identified three latent classes. Class 1 (Low-Risk group, 54%) reported low risks in all correlates except for serious psychological distress (SPD, 33%). Class 2 (Psychological Distress group, 30%) demonstrated high risks of major depressive episodes (86%) and SPD (93%). Class 3 (Criminal Justice System Involvement group, 16%) showed high involvement in arrests (100%) and drug-related arrests (67%) and moderate risks for SPD (54%) and behavioral problems, e.g., drug selling (46%) and theft (35%). Compared to Class 1, Class 2 was more likely to be female, out of the labor force, and to show high risk propensity, and Class 3 was more likely to have lower education and drug use disorders. Class 3 was also less likely to be older, belong to the "other" racial/ethnic category, have lower English proficiency, and report alcohol use disorder. Conclusions: The three subgroups of the US MHG participant population illustrate the complex and heterogeneous psycho-social-behavioral profiles of MHG participants with SUD. MHG referral's effectiveness may be augmented by tailoring it to the patient/client's specific psycho-socio-behavioral profile.

Keywords: Mutual help group; latent class analysis; psycho-socio-behavioral profiles; referral; substance use disorder.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest Statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Predicted Probabilities of Psychological, Behavioral, and Criminal Justice Involvement Risks among US Adults (with a Substance Use Disorder) in Mutual-Help Groups by Latent Classes: National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2015−2018 Notes. MDE = Major Depressive Episode. SPD = Serious Psychological Distress
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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