Self-Help Groups and Recovery
Five million people across the Nation attended a self-help group in the past year because of their use of alcohol or illicit drugs—and 45.1 percent of them did not use alcohol or illicit drugs in the past month.
In a report from SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), Participation in Self-Help Groups for Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use: 2006 and 2007, data reveals characteristics of people who attended self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.
Among people age 12 or older who attended a self-help group in the past year, 45.3 percent attended a group because of their alcohol use only, and 21.8 percent attended a group because of their illicit drug use only. One-third (33.0 percent) attended a group because of their use of both alcohol and illicit drugs.
Most attendees (80.2 percent) were over the age of 25 and a majority (55.6 percent) lived in a large metropolitan area.
While 45.1 percent abstained from substance use in the past month, the remaining 54.9 percent continued to use substances. Rates of abstinence differed depending on the substance(s) for which individuals attended self-help groups.
For example, past-month abstinence from alcohol and illicit drug use was reported by 33.3 percent of those who attended a self-help group for their illicit drug use only. This compares with 47.3 percent of those who attended a self-help group for their alcohol use only, and 52.5 percent of those who attended a self-help group for their use of both alcohol and illicit drugs.
All findings presented in this report are annual averages based on combined 2006 and 2007 NSDUH data.
Participation in Self-Help Groups for Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use: 2006 and 2007 is available on the SAMHSA Office of Applied Studies Web site.
For more on mutual support groups, read Mutual Support Groups: Fact Sheet for Providers in SAMHSA News online, September/October 2008.