The impact of religious affiliation on college students’ 12-step model preferences

ABSTRACT

Previous research has suggested that younger generations are reporting lower levels of religious affiliation and are more likely to drop out of traditional 12-step recovery programmes such as Alcoholics Anonymous than previous generations. The present study examined whether 110 millennial- and Generation Z-aged, college-students who were assessed for religiosity and substance use patterns preferred the language used in the traditional 12-step model vs. an alternative version of the model that was designed to emphasise personal empowerment over a higher power. Participants who identified as religious displayed a stronger preference for the wording of the traditional 12-step model when compared to the alternative 12-step model, however, all groups preferred the wording of the alternative 12-step model compared to the traditional 12-step wording. These findings suggest that millennial- and Generation Z-aged individuals may have a preference for language and treatment approaches that are less focused on faith and more focused on self-empowerment.

KEYWORDS:

• Recovery
• 12-step
• religion
• millennial
• Generation Z
• addiction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).