Do Involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous and Religiousness Both Directly and Indirectly through Meaning in Life Lead to Spiritual Experiences?

Marcin Wnuk

doi:10.3390/rel12100794

Abstract

Spirituality is a key element of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) recovery. However, little is known about the potential religious and secular sources of spiritual experiences in AA fellowship. The aim of the study was to verify if in a sample of AA participants, meaning in life mediates the relationship between their religiousness and spiritual experiences, as well as between their involvement in AA and spiritual experiences. The study sample consisted of 70 Polish AA participants, and the following tools were used: the Alcoholics Anonymous Involvement Scale (AAIS); Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORFQ); Purpose in Life Test (PIL); two one-item measures regarding frequency of prayer and Mass attendance; and the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) duration of AA participation, which was positively related to involvement in addiction self-help groups and religiousness. Involvement in AA and religiousness were positively related to meaning in life, which in turn positively correlated with spiritual experiences. This research indicated that in a sample of AA participants, finding meaning in life partially mediates the relationship between religiousness and spiritual experiences, as well as fully mediating the relationship between involvement in AA and spiritual experiences. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Highlights

According to the literature on alcohol-dependent individuals, involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is related to positive outcomes such as sobriety (Zemore 2007; Kaskutas et al 2003), lower likelihood of relapse (Sheeren 1988), fewer psychiatric severity and depressive symptoms (Galanter et al 2012), and lower anxiety (Galanter et al 2012).Recent longitudinal studies have indicated that the AA attendance indirectly, through improving individuals’ spirituality, decreased alcohol consumption
The aim of this study was to explore the potential influence of AA participants’ religiousness and AA involvement to find meaning in life as a predictor of their spiritual experiences. Both religiousness and AA involvement served as potential sources of a meaning-making-oriented framework as an element that facilitates spiritual experiences
The hypothesis predicting a positive correlation between religiousness and AA involvement was not confirmed because the relationship between the two variables was not statistically significant

Summary

Introduction

According to the literature on alcohol-dependent individuals, involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is related to positive outcomes such as sobriety (Zemore 2007; Kaskutas et al 2003), lower likelihood of relapse (Sheeren 1988), fewer psychiatric severity and depressive symptoms (Galanter et al 2012), and lower anxiety (Galanter et al 2012).Recent longitudinal studies have indicated that the AA attendance indirectly, through improving individuals’ spirituality, decreased alcohol consumption (usually through sobriety; Kelly et al 2011; Krentzman et al 2013; Tonigan et al 2013; Zemore 2007). According to Kurtz and White (2015), it is reasonable to distinguish between two groups of participants within AA fellowship: religious spirituality followers and secular spirituality followers. These two groups, which differ in attitude toward spirituality, reflect two different means of spiritual growth in self-help groups, with the first based on religiousness and the second on AA involvement. Religion can be a framework for having a meaning-oriented system (Silberman 2005), leading to spiritual growth. The source of a framework for a meaning-oriented system that facilitates spiritual experiences can be the AA philosophy (Alcoholics Anonymous 2001)

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion