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Hope and Substance Abuse Recovery: The Impact of Agency and Pathways within an Abstinent Communal-Living Setting

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: Hope is commonly divided into two constructs: agency, defined as goal-directed energy, and pathways, defined as the ability to create paths to a goal. To date, only two studies have examined the utility of hope in substance abuse recovery, and the present investigation buildings on this small literature by assessing hope beliefs within a larger and more diverse sample of adults in recovery. This study examined how two hope constructs of agency and pathways related to substance use abstinence among 90 new residents of communal-living recovery homes (i.e., Oxford Houses) who completed two waves of data assessment. Results indicated that agency scores significantly predicted alcohol use at Wave 1 but pathway scores failed to predict drug or alcohol use at this time point. Additionally, agency and pathway scores predicted drug (but not alcohol use) at an 8-month follow-up assessment. These findings indicated that participants' hope may be linked to substance use at later stages of recovery. In addition, these results suggested a stronger relationship between hope and drug as opposed to alcohol use at this time point. Implications for substance abuse recovery are discussed.

Source: Journal of Groups in Addiction & Recovery

DOI: 10.1080/15560350802712389

Authors: Glen M. Mathis, Joseph R. Ferrari, David R. Groh, Leonard A. Jason

Institution: DePaul University

Language: English

Topic: Optimism, Hope, and Well-being

Subfield: Applied Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Drug Abuse