Social support, spiritual program, and addiction recovery

This study compared personal and emotional modifications of inmates who were recovering addicts and who participated in one of two year-long therapeutic intervention programs, one including social support and experiential spiritual program components (Narcotics Anonymous, NA, meetings and the 12-step course), the other including primarily social support (NA meetings only, without the 12-step program). The hypothesis was that supplementing social support programs with a concrete spiritual program would result in more positive personal and emotional changes. The results seem to support the hypothesis: Inmates participating in the 12-step program demonstrated a higher sense of coherence and meaning in life and a gradual reduction in the intensity of negative emotions (anxiety, depression, and hostility) than those participating in NA meetings without the 12-step program. The research findings demonstrate the importance of the 12-step program as part of a rehabilitation process for drug addicts.