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ABSTRACT
Increased self-efficacy or confidence to remain abstinent has been identified as one mechanism explaining behavior change, with investigations of this mechanism occurring most frequently in prospective mutual-help research. This study meta-analytically combined 11 studies to address critical questions about the nature and magnitude of change in self-efficacy in predicting drinking reductions among 12-step exposed individuals. Findings suggested that changes in self-efficacy were not uniform within Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and that the magnitude of benefit associated with increased self-efficacy on outcome was not homogenous across studies. Whether this finding was the result of a measurement artifact, such as different self-efficacy measures, the nature of the samples, or the follow-up interval is not clear. Additional work is necessary to identify the nature of this mediating effect, and to uncover the extent that this effect varies by the kind and severity of substance abuse.
