Health & Medicine
Youth's Addiction Recovers Faster with Help of AA-Related Tool, 'Kindess is Contagious'
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Feb 27, 2013 01:49 PM EST
You know that saying that kindness is contagious? Well, turns out that is actually true-and good thing, too, since it can help youths suffering from addiction with their recovery process.
According to a Case Western Reserve University professor, young people addicted to alcohol and drugs can increase their changes of recovery by helping others.
In 2010, Maria Pagano, PhD, found that adults who became involved in Alcoholics Anonymous-related service-type work were more likely to stay sober 10 years following treatment and have increased interest in others, a positive health outcome.
Now, new research by Pagano suggests that youth in AA respond the same way. The study found that nearly 200 juvenile offenders who became active in AA-related helping during treatment were less likely to test positive for alcohol and drugs during treatment and had greater psychosocial improvement, as well.
According to the study, "Assessing Youth Participation in AA-Related Helping: Validity of the Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS) Questionnaire in an Adolescent Sample," is published in the January-February issue of The American Journal on Addictions. The questionnaire, which Pagano created, can help clinicians identify youths low in service participation and suggest AAH activities to promote their recovery.
Her investigation developed the first brief assessment of adolescent participation in AAH.
"The SOS tool provides a snapshot of a patient's level of service participation. An SOS score of 40 or higher is associated with greater abstinence as measured by urine toxicology screens," Pagano said.
"Given AAH participation during treatment significantly improves the likelihood of long-term abstinence, interventions that facilitate early engagement in service are critical during the few weeks of treatment when motivation to change behavior is the highest."
Pagano is continuing to follow the cohort of juvenile offenders to examine the impact of AAH on long-term recidivism outcomes.
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First Posted: Feb 27, 2013 01:49 PM EST
You know that saying that kindness is contagious? Well, turns out that is actually true-and good thing, too, since it can help youths suffering from addiction with their recovery process.
According to a Case Western Reserve University professor, young people addicted to alcohol and drugs can increase their changes of recovery by helping others.
In 2010, Maria Pagano, PhD, found that adults who became involved in Alcoholics Anonymous-related service-type work were more likely to stay sober 10 years following treatment and have increased interest in others, a positive health outcome.
Now, new research by Pagano suggests that youth in AA respond the same way. The study found that nearly 200 juvenile offenders who became active in AA-related helping during treatment were less likely to test positive for alcohol and drugs during treatment and had greater psychosocial improvement, as well.
According to the study, "Assessing Youth Participation in AA-Related Helping: Validity of the Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS) Questionnaire in an Adolescent Sample," is published in the January-February issue of The American Journal on Addictions. The questionnaire, which Pagano created, can help clinicians identify youths low in service participation and suggest AAH activities to promote their recovery.
Her investigation developed the first brief assessment of adolescent participation in AAH.
"The SOS tool provides a snapshot of a patient's level of service participation. An SOS score of 40 or higher is associated with greater abstinence as measured by urine toxicology screens," Pagano said.
"Given AAH participation during treatment significantly improves the likelihood of long-term abstinence, interventions that facilitate early engagement in service are critical during the few weeks of treatment when motivation to change behavior is the highest."
Pagano is continuing to follow the cohort of juvenile offenders to examine the impact of AAH on long-term recidivism outcomes.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone