Adapting the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale to Assess Recovery Identity: Results from a Study of Collegiate Recovery Students in North America

BACKGROUND: Initiating and sustaining recovery from substance and behavioral addictions often involves extensive identity transformation. However, there has not yet been a standardized tool to examine identity change as a psychological and social process within the context of addiction recovery. OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Recovery Identity Scale (RIS), an adaptation of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS), to assess commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of recovery identity among students in Collegiate Recovery Programs (CRPs). RESULTS: = 455, mean age = 28.5 years) were students affiliated with CRPs across North America who completed an online survey. Most participants identified as White (74.8%) and women (53.4%). Results supported a three-factor model in which commitment was positively correlated with exploration and negatively with reconsideration. Measurement invariance was supported across age (≤30 vs. >30 years), gender (W vs. M), and time in recovery (≤1 vs. >1 years) groups. Participants with one year or less of recovery time reported higher levels of reconsideration of recovery identity. Women demonstrated higher levels of exploration and greater variability in reconsideration compared to men. Among the full sample, commitment was positively associated with quality of life (QoL) and negatively with loneliness, while reconsideration was negatively associated with QoL. QoL was also negatively associated with exploration, but only among participants with one year or less of time in recovery. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: Overall, findings indicate that the RIS is a reliable and valid measure of recovery identity, underscoring its importance for psychosocial well-being among students in CRPs.