A pilot study: locus of control and spiritual beliefs in alcoholics anonymous and smart recovery members

To investigate whether Alcoholics Anonymous' (AA's) "higher power" concept encourages externally dependent behavior, this pilot study tested whether AA and Self Management and Recovery Training (SR) members are equal on measures of external locus of control. The AA sample (N = 48) and SR sample (N = 33) were similar in age, gender, and education levels, and both required a minimum of 8 weeks group involvement. A modified spiritual beliefs questionnaire (SBQ) was first administered to each sample to compare them on spiritual beliefs, and the drinking-related locus of control scale (DRIE) was then conducted to compare each sample on locus of control. Significant differences were found between both samples on five out of seven spiritual measures, with the AA group scoring consistently higher on these factors (p < .01). In addition, the AA sample was significantly more external on the DRIE scale than the SR sample (p = .00003). These findings suggest that AA members are generally more spiritually oriented and exhibit greater external locus of control relative to SR members. Future controlled trials are necessary to confirm whether these results are caused by particular programs or primarily due to a self-selective process.