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Assessing Youth Participation in AA-Related Helping: Validity of the Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS) Questionnaire in an Adolescent Sample
- Source :
- The American Journal on Addictions. 22:60-66
- Publication Year :
- 2013
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2013.
-
Abstract
- Background and Objectives: The positive outcomes derived from participation in Alcoholics Anonymous‐related helping (AAH) found among adults has spurred study of AAH among minors with addiction. AAH includes acts of good citizenship in AA, formal service positions, public outreach, and transmitting personal experience to another fellow sufferer. Addiction research with adolescents is hindered by few validated assessments of 12‐step activity among minors. This study provides psychometric findings of the “Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS)” questionnaire as completed by youths. Methods: Multi‐informant data was collected prospectively from youth self‐reports, clinician‐rated assessments, biomarkers, and medicalchartrecordsforyouths(N ¼ 195)afterresidentialtreatment. Results: Few youths (7%) did not participate in any AAH during treatment. Results indicated the SOS as a unidimensional scale with adequate psychometric properties, including inter‐informant reliability (r ¼ .5), internal consistency (alpha ¼ .90), and convergent validity (rs ¼� .3 to .3). Programmatic AAH activities distinguished abstinent youths in a random half‐sample, and replicated on the other half‐sample. The SOS cut‐point of 40 indicated high AAH participation. Conclusions and Significance: The SOS appears to be a valid measure of AAH, suggesting clinical utility for enhancing treatment and identifying service opportunities salient to sobriety. (Am J Addict 2013;22:60–66)
- Subjects :
- medicine.medical_specialty
Psychometrics
Addiction
media_common.quotation_subject
Alcoholics Anonymous
Youth participation
Medicine (miscellaneous)
Helping behavior
Psychiatry and Mental health
Clinical Psychology
Sobriety
Convergent validity
medicine
Personality Assessment Inventory
Psychiatry
Psychology
Clinical psychology
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 10550496
- Volume :
- 22
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The American Journal on Addictions
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........029da19d95d0b90ec4b2841813d8eb4e