ArticleSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2020
"Personal recovery depends on NA unity": an exploratory study on recovery-supportive elements in Narcotics Anonymous Flanders.
Article in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transformation of identity in substance use as a pathway to recovery and the potential of treatment for hepatitis C: a systematic review.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Facilitating Personal Recovery in Individuals With Mental Illness: A Longitudinal Qualitative Interview Study of a Person-Centred Group Intervention.International journal of mental health nursing · 2026Article
- Post-treatment life-trajectories among people who inject drugs who completed hepatitis C treatment with direct acting antivirals: A thematic analysis.British journal of health psychology · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Mutual Help Groups for Illicit Drug Use Disorders: A Review of the Current Literature.Current addiction reports · 2025Article
- The Adoption of a "Diseased Identity" in Traditional 12-Step Groups: Exploring the Implications of These Processes for Individuals and Practitioners in Health and Social Care Services.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Personal recovery for special populations: a qualitative study exploring the role of special interest meetings within 12-step fellowships.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2024Article
- Recovery-supportive interventions for people with substance use disorders: a scoping review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Narcotics Anonymous attendees' perceptions and experiences of substitute behaviors in the Western Cape, South Africa.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Article
- Personal recovery among people with opioid use disorder during treatment with extended-release naltrexone.Heliyon · 2023Article
- "A lot better than it used to be": A qualitative study of adolescents' dynamic social recovery capital.Addiction research & theory · 2023Article
- Self-help group experiences among members recovering from substance use disorder in Kuantan, Malaysia.Social work with groups · 2023Article
- Examining the role of social support in treatment for co-occurring substance use disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder.Addictive behaviors reports · 2022Article
- Substitute Behaviors following Residential Substance Use Treatment in the Western Cape, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Socially-supportive norms and mutual aid of people who use opioids: An analysis of Reddit during the initial COVID-19 pandemic.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Article
- Substitute addictions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2020Article
- Perspectives of researchers with lived experience in implementation science research: Opportunities to close the research-to-practice gap in substance use systems of care.Implementation research and practiceArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMutual aid organizations, such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA), can provide support in substance use disorder (SUD) recovery processes. However, research on NA and its recovery-supportive elements is scarce and perspectives of NA-members remain understudied, in particular outside the US. Therefore, this study aims to gain insight into recovery-supportive elements of NA, as experienced by its members.
methodsTo explore the perspectives on and experiences with recovery-supportive elements in NA, 11 in-depth interviews with NA-members were conducted in Flanders (Belgium). Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analyzed by using CHIME-D, a personal recovery framework (Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning in life, Empowerment, Difficulties) developed by Leamy and colleagues in 2011.
resultsVarious recovery-supportive elements of NA were highlighted, with Connectedness as a key component including opportunities for building up a social network and for providing a safety net or sounding board. Elements that enabled Connectedness were 1) a non-judgemental approach, and 2) mutual understanding through sharing in NA. Other elements of the CHIME-D framework were less frequently mentioned, although these were inextricably linked to Connectedness.
conclusionsConnectedness appeared to be the crucial recovery-supportive element in NA, emphasizing the relational character of SUD recovery. Although other elements of the CHIME-D framework were identified, these were closely related to and intertwined with the concept of connectedness.
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