Long-Term Increases in Purpose in Life are Associated with Remission from Alcohol Dependence

Abstract

This study examined whether increases in purpose in life (PIL) over 2.5 years were associated with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) remission among 364 individuals with alcohol dependence. Remission from alcohol dependence at final follow-up was associated with significantly greater increases in PIL over time, compared to those without remission or with partial remission. The strong relationship between increases in PIL and remitted status at final follow-up indicates the importance of existential issues to recovery, and the value of incorporating these concerns into treatment and further investigating their role in initiating and supporting recovery.

KEYWORDS:

• Purpose in life
• recovery
• remission
• alcohol dependence

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants R01 AA014442 and R21 AA019723 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health and Grant 2UL1TR000433 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institutes of Health.