ABSTRACT
Purpose
Social influence can be important to people’s substance use recovery. It functions in professional substance use treatment programs and in the 12-step approach to recovery.
Method
The study reported here employed clinical data mining methodology to study the role of interpersonal associations inside and outside of substance use treatment in predicting clients’ treatment success.
Results
In this study, the interpersonal associations available in treatment predicted greater odds of completing a day treatment program. Two interpersonal associations outside of treatment had an effect on successful program completion, but only one was in the hypothesized direction.
Discussion
Social learning theory and 12-Step philosophy offer a lens for viewing the role interpersonal associations might play in a client’s recovery process.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).