Social support and relapse: Commonalities among alcoholics, opiate users, and cigarette smokers

doi:10.1016/0306-4603(91)90016-B

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 16, Issue 5, 1991, Pages 235-246

https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4603(91)90016-B Get rights and content

Abstract

Links between social support and relapse were examined in a study of alcoholics, cigarette smokers, and opiate users completing treatment for drug use (N = 221). Subjects were followed weekly until relapse for a maximum of 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Structural and functional social support and support for abstinence and drug use were investigated. With demographic variables and drug-treatment group controlled, greater structural support (as measured by an index of social integration and by partner status) predicted a lower risk of relapse. Greater experienced partner support for abstinence also predicted lower risk. Social network members' use of the subject's problem drug predicted heightened relapse risk, but the effect was not statistically significant. This study contributes to a cross-drug model of relapse. It highlights the importance of social integration and abstinence-specific functional support in predicting the risk of relapse, independent of the particular drug of abuse.

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^☆: The first two authors contributed equally to this manuscript. This study was supported by Grants DA00065, DA02538, DA03082, and DA05582, all from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and BRSG Grant S07-RR0575.

^∗: We would like to acknowledge the administrative and clinical staffs of the participating treatment programs for their sustained support and cooperation. We also thank Jeanne M. Tschann for her helpful comments on an earlier draft.

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Social support and relapse: Commonalities among alcoholics, opiate users, and cigarette smokers☆

Abstract

Addictive Behaviors

Social Science and Medicine

Behavior Therapy

Behavior Therapy

The relationship of social networks and social support to morbidity and mortality

Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: A nine-year follow-up study of Alameda Country Residents

American Journal of Epidemiology

BMDP Statistical Software Manual

Understanding and preventing relapse

American Psychologist

Psychosocial models of the role of social support in the etiology of physical disease

Health Psychology

Measuring the functional components of social support

Issues in the study and application of social support

Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis

Psychological Bulletin

Partner support and other determinants of smoking cessation maintenance among women

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Relapse: Prevention and prediction

Assessment of addictive behaviors: Implications of an emerging biopsychosocial model

Posttreatment experiences and treatment outcome of alcoholic patients six months and two years after hospitalization

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Commitment to abstinence and acute stress in relapse to alcohol, opiates, and nicotine

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Aftercare in drug abuse treatment

International Journal of the Addictions