Levels of spirituality and treatment outcome: a preliminary examination

The primary aim of this study was to examine whether admission differences in levels of spirituality predisposed alcohol-dependent individuals to favorable or unfavorable outcomes following admission to facilities that differed in the degree to which spirituality was emphasized. It was hypothesized that individuals whose admission level of spirituality was congruent with the treatment program's orientation and who as such were considered optimally placed (i.e., "matched") for treatment would evince better in-treatment outcomes.

Four hundred and five participants completed measures of spirituality and psychosocial well-being at intake and at end of treatment.

In examining the entire sample, no matching effects were observed on discharge status, abstinence efficacy, or desire to drink. When analyses were restricted to those cases scoring in the upper or lower quartiles in spirituality, we observed a paradoxical effect, as individuals recording lower levels of spirituality at the less spiritual program evinced significantly poorer outcomes (i.e., less abstinence efficacy, greater desire to drink).

These findings hint at the importance of spirituality in the environment of care, indicating that individuals low in spirituality were at risk for poorer outcomes, but exposure to a program that emphasized spirituality lowered that risk.