U.S. Regional Differences in Alcoholics Anonymous Member Engagement and Outcome During Early Recovery: One Day at a Time

Meta-analytic reviews report that frequency of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) attendance is associated with increased abstinence but these reviews also report that the magnitude of AA benefit differs significantly between aggregated studies. This study investigated variation in AA efficacy by exploring U.S. regional differences in impressions of AA group social dynamics, practice of AA prescribed behaviors, and drinking. AA members in early recovery were assessed at baseline and three-months in this observational study. Impressions of AA group social dynamics were largely independent of U.S. region, but modest U.S. regional differences in the practice of AA prescribed behaviors were present at three-months. Findings suggest that perceptions of AA group dynamics are relatively uniform at the regional level in the U.S. although the rank ordering of dimensions of social dynamics changes with time. At three-months AA attendance was unrelated to rates of abstinence but was significantly related to reductions in drinking intensity.