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Although recovery has gained considerable momentum in recent years, pathways into recovery programs are less understood. “You do the MAFS” is a 6-session, peer-led group that educates service users about abstinence-based recovery and provides a gateway into mutual aid. Through a mixed methodological approach, this study found that attendance at “You do the MAFS” improved participant health and social functioning, increased mutual aid attendance and reduced substance use. An intervention such as this would be a useful addition to the substance misuse treatment sector as provision to make links to and increase support for those in recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recovery group participation is relevant to both clinical and research activity. Its measurement with the Recovery Group Participation Scale (RGPS) is an attempt to have a measurement of participation across a range of recovery groups. The factor structure, among other psychometric properties of the scale, is however, undefined. The present study examined the factor structure of the RGPS in alcohol and drug recovery populations in Birmingham and Glasgow, United Kingdom. Participants from the Birmingham (n = 219) and Glasgow (n = 205) recovery studies who had a completed form of the RGPS formed the basis for the factor structure examination. Principal component analysis extracted one factor, which accounted for 39.3% and 67.4% in the Birmingham and the Glasgow samples, respectively. Overall scores on the RGPS were associated with higher quality-of-life scores and with greater self-esteem and social networks of nonusers in recovery. The key question that remains to be addressed is the evolving role of recovery group participation in prospective studies of growth of recovery capital and sustained recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]