The autobiography of addiction: Autobiographical reasoning and psychological adjustment in abstinent alcoholics

Abstract

The narration of drinking experiences plays a central role in many alcohol rehabilitation programmes, yet few researchers have considered whether alcoholics' stories about such experiences relate to their psychological adjustment. Here we examine the extent to which drinking stories of abstinent alcoholics reflect autobiographical reasoning processes denoting self-change and self-stability, and whether these processes are associated with adjustment. Participants who revealed a positive self-change in their narratives about drinking demonstrated higher levels of self-esteem, authentic pride, and mental health compared to those who did not. In contrast, those who implied a sense of self-stability in their narratives demonstrated higher levels of hubristic pride and aggression, and poorer mental health. These results suggest that narrating positive self-change in the wake of substance abuse may underlie psychological adjustment, whereas establishing self-stability in these experiences may impede adjustment. More broadly, these findings underscore the importance of recognising the multi-dimensional nature of autobiographical reasoning.

Keywords:

• Autobiographical reasoning
• Self-event connections
• Alcohol addiction
• Psychological adjustment

Acknowledgments

This research project was supported by a fellowship to the first author from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, a scholar award and establishment grant to the second author from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, and a Career Investigator Award to the second author from the Canadian Institute for Health Research. We gratefully acknowledge the competence research assistance of Dana Dmytro, Amine Bouzaher, Vanessa Wilcott, and Kean Leung as well as the scholarly comments and critiques of Aaron Weidman and William Hall.

Notes

¹All participants' names provided here are pseudonyms.