Al-Anon newcomers: benefits of continuing attendance for six months

ABSTRACT

Background: Al-Anon Family Groups, a 12-step mutual-help program for people concerned about another person’s drinking, is the most widely used form of help by Concerned Others. Objectives: This longitudinal study examined newcomers’ outcomes of attending Al-Anon. Aims were to better understand early gains from Al-Anon to inform efforts in the professional community to facilitate concerned others’ attendance of and engagement in Al-Anon. Methods: We compared two groups of Al-Anon newcomers who completed surveys at baseline and 6 months later: those who discontinued attendance by the 6-month follow-up (N = 133), and those who were still attending Al-Anon meetings (N = 97); baseline characteristics were controlled in these comparisons. Results: Newcomers who sustained participation in Al-Anon over the first 6 months of attendance were more likely than those who discontinued participation during the same period to report gains in a variety of domains, such as learning how to handle problems due to the drinker, and increased well-being and functioning, including reduced verbal or physical abuse victimization. Newcomers to Al-Anon reported more personal gains than drinker-related gains. The most frequent drinker gain was a better relationship with the Concerned Other; attendees were more likely to report this, as well as daily, in-person contact with the drinker. Conclusion: Al-Anon participation may facilitate ongoing interaction between Concerned Others and drinkers, and help Concerned Others function and feel better. Thus, short-term participation may be beneficial. Health-care professionals should consider providing referrals to Al-Anon and monitoring early attendance.

KEYWORDS:

• Al-Anon Family Groups
• mutual-help
• 12-step groups
• alcohol use disorders
• addiction
• family

Funding

This research was supported by NIH/NIAAA (grant number 1R21AA019541-01) and Dr. Timko by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Research and Development (Health Services Research & Development Service, grant number RCS 00-001). The views expressed here are the authors’.

Declaration of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by NIH/NIAAA (grant number 1R21AA019541-01) and Dr. Timko by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Research and Development (Health Services Research & Development Service, grant number RCS 00-001). The views expressed here are the authors’.