Relapse among Recovering Addiction Professionals: Prevalence and Predictors

Abstract

In 2013–2014, a cross-sectional, exploratory, survey design was used to obtain a conservative estimate of relapse among a sample of recovering addiction professionals in the United States and to identify potential predictors for relapse. The sample (n = 265) was drawn from the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium. The relapse rate for the sample was 14.7%. Two predictors for relapse were identified in the stepwise logistic regression. The more mutual-aid group meetings respondents attended per month, the less likely they were to have experienced relapse (Wald = 7.956, p = .005), and the longer participants had been in recovery when their careers began, the less likely they were to have experienced relapse (Wald = 4.366, p = .037). The authors provide suggestions regarding the recovery health of recovering addiction professionals as well as recommendations for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• addiction counseling licensure
• addiction credential
• addiction workforce
• recovering addiction professionals
• relapse
• relapse predictors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.