The Influence of Affiliation to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Perceived Stress and Length of Sobriety on Recurrence of Alcohol Craving and Obsession and Relapse During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania

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ABSTRACT While alcohol addiction is a significant social problem in Romania, there has been no research into mutual-help groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of affiliation to AA, perceived stress, and length of sobriety on the recurrence of alcohol craving and obsession, and relapse during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to determine whether there are any differences between the level of AA affiliation and AA attendance before and after the pandemic began. A convenience sample of individuals suffering from alcohol addiction from Romania who attend AA meetings (n = 107, 69 men and 38 women) completed an online questionnaire in October 2020 to analyze the intricate relationship between affiliation to AA, perceived stress, and length of sobriety, and recurrence of alcohol craving and obsession and relapse, as well as to compare between the level of affiliation to AA and AA attendance before and after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate whether affiliation to AA, perceived stress, and length of sobriety had influenced the recurrence of craving and alcohol obsession and relapse during the COVID-19 pandemic. A paired samples t-test was performed to evaluate whether there were any differences between the level of AA affiliation and AA attendance before and after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Results indicated that affiliation to AA 12 months before the COVID-19 pandemic started (AAA), perceived stress in the last 9 months since the COVID-19 pandemic started (PSS) and length of sobriety are predictors of both relapse (together the three predictors accounted for 89.7% of the variance in relapse) and recurrence of alcohol craving and obsession during the COVID-19 pandemic (together the three predictors accounted for 81.3% of the variance in recurrence of alcohol craving and obsession). Surprisingly, the length of sobriety was found to be a significant predictor over and above AAA in the past 12 months before the COVID-19 pandemic started in both regression models. In addition, the level of AA affiliation and AA attendance after the COVID-19 pandemic started decreased compared to the level of AA affiliation and AA attendance before the COVID-19 pandemic began, with a very small effect size, respectively with a small effect size. The findings suggest that those working in the area of substance abuse should pay more attention to the influence of affiliation to AA and perceived stress in attaining and maintaining sobriety, as well as to the length of sobriety in maintaining abstinence, as these appear to play an important role in avoiding both recurrence of craving and alcohol obsession, and relapse during times of distress.