Al-Anon Family Groups: Origins, Conceptual Basis, Outcomes, and Research Opportunities

Abstract

Al-Anon Family Groups, commonly known as Al-Anon, is a mutual-help organization for relatives and friends of people misusing alcohol and other substances. We first summarize Al-Anon's history and current membership and then describe its theoretical basis and helping approach. We review evidence for Al-Anon's active ingredients and outcomes and present a conceptual model to guide future research. Research opportunities include understanding Al-Anon newcomers, specifying Al-Anon's active ingredients, and examining potential synergistic influences between Al-Anon participation and identified substance misusers’ participation in mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous. We suggest that mutual-help and professional communities work together to facilitate early participation in Al-Anon by shortening the time between problem recognition and seeking help from the fellowship.

KEYWORDS:

• Al-Anon Family Groups
• mutual help
• substance abuse
• alcoholism
• addiction

Acknowledgments

This article is not subject to US copyright law.

This work was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (1R21AA019541-01) and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development (Health Services Research & Development Service, RCS 00-001). The views expressed here are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs.