Research on Alcoholics Anonymous

Principally under the direction of Professor J. Scott Tonigan, our research group at CASAA has conducted a series of scientific studies and reviews of the role of Alcoholics Anonymous in treatment and recovery.

With support from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, we convened a conference on approaches to research on Alcoholics Anonymous.  Invited presentations from the conference were published as:

McCrady, B. S., & Miller, W. R. (Eds.) (1993). Research on Alcoholics Anonymous: Opportunities and alternatives.  New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies.

The following are studies and articles in which I was personally involved.

Montgomery, H. A., Miller, W. R., & Tonigan, J. S. (1993).  Differences among AA groups: Implications for research.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 54, 502-504.

Miller, W. R., & Kurtz, E. (1994).  Models of alcoholism used in treatment:  Contrasting A.A. and other perspectives with which it is often confused.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 55, 159-166.

Montgomery, H. A., Miller, W. R., & Tonigan, J. S. (1995).  Does Alcoholics Anonymous involvement predict treatment outcome?  Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 12, 241-246.

Tonigan, J. S., Ashcroft, F., & Miller, W. R. (1995).  A.A. group dynamics and 12-Step activity.  Journal of  Studies on Alcohol, 56, 616-621.

Tonigan, J. S., Connors, G. J., & Miller, W. R. (1996).  The Alcoholics Anonymous Involvement (AAI) scale: Reliability and norms.  Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 10, 75-80.

Tonigan, J. S., Toscova, R., & Miller, W. R. (1996).  Meta-analysis of the literature on Alcoholics Anonymous: Sample and study characteristics moderate findings.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 57, 65-72.

Tonigan, J. S., Connors, G. J., & Miller, W. R. (1999).  Special populations in Alcoholics Anonymous.  Alcohol Health & Research World, 281-285.

Tonigan, J. S., Connors, G.J., Miller, W.R. (1999). Alcoholics Anonymous Involvement: A review. In Maltby, J., Lewis, C.A., & Hill, A.P. (Eds.).  Commissioned reviews on 300 psychological tests. Lampeter Wales, UK, Edwin Mellen Press

Tonigan, J. S., Miller, W. R., & Connors, G. J. (2000).  Project MATCH client impressions about Alcoholics Anonymous: Measurement issues and relationship to treatment outcome.  Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 18, 25-41.

Connors, G. J., Tonigan, J. S., & Miller, W. R. (2001).  A longitudinal model of intake symptomatology, AA  participation, and outcome: Retrospective study of the Project MATCH outpatient and aftercare samples.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62, 817-825.

Tonigan, J. S., Miller, W. R., & Connors, G. J. (2001).  Prior Alcoholics Anonymous involvement and treatment outcome.  In R. Longabaugh & P. W. Wirtz (Eds.), Project MATCH hypotheses: Results and causal chain analyses (pp. 276-284). Project MATCH Monograph Series, Vol. 8.  Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Tonigan, J. S., Miller, W. R., Juarez, P., & Villanueva, M. (2002).  Utilization of AA by Hispanic and non-Hispanic white clients receiving outpatient alcohol treatment.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 215-218.

Tonigan, J. S., Miller, W. R., & Schermer, C., (2002). Atheists, agnostics, and Alcoholics Anonymous. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 534-541.

Owen, P. L., Slaymaker, V., Tonigan, J. S., McCrady, B. S., Epstein, E. E., Kaskutas, L. A., Humphreys, K., & Miller, W. R. (2003).  Participation in Alcoholics Anonymous: Intended and unintended change mechanisms.  Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 27, 524-532.

Tonigan, J. S., Connors, G., & Miller, W. R. (2003).  Participation and involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous.  In T. F. Babor & F. K. Del Boca (Eds.), Treatment matching in alcoholism (pp. 184-204). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Bogenschutz, M. P., Tonigan, J. S., & Miller, W. R. (2006).  Examining the effects of alcoholism typology and AA attendance on self-efficacy as a mechanism of change.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67, 562-567.

Tonigan, J. S., Bogenschutz, M. P., & Miller, W. R. (2006).  Is alcoholism typology a predictor of both  AA affiliation and disaffiliation after treatment?  Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 30, 323-330.

Forcehimes, A. A., Feldstein, S. W., & Miller, W. R. (2008).  Glatt’s curve revisited: A pilot study investigating the progression of recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous.  Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 26, 241-258.