Exploring Trauma and Social Support in Recovery: Reconsidering the Appropriateness of Abstinence‐Based Approaches

ABSTRACT This research uses data from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions‐III (NESARC) to explore the recovery experiences between the time points of NESARC data. We analyzed how perceived social support and trauma affect whether people seek treatment or not and achieve an abstinent or non‐abstinent recovery. Our findings confirm that individuals with trauma experience are less likely to be in recovery with abstinence than those without a trauma history, while higher social support was significantly associated with being a moderate drinker while in recovery. Trauma and social support do not significantly differentiate between moderate use with treatment versus moderate use without treatment; therefore, treatment itself did not lead people to moderate use recovery.