Amy R Krentzman

University of Minnesota | UMN · Department of Social Work

Despite the well-established role of mutual-aid groups in addiction treatment, no research has yet explored the role of the 12-step pathway in spiritual growth and gratitude, or its direct and indirect relationships with well-being among individuals with compulsive sexual behavior disorders (CSBD). The purpose of the current study was to examine th...

Recovery from substance use disorders can be an arduous, lengthy process, yet there exist few interventions specifically designed to make recovery more reinforcing. This single-group mixed-methods study describes the development, feasibility, acceptability, and impact of a novel journaling intervention that combines aspects of positive psychology a...

"Successful management of an increasingly diverse workforce is among the most impor-tant challenges confronting organizational leaders (Fulp, 2018; Mor Barak, 2016). Approaches to diversity management have evolved within human resource systems largely designed and developed for a more homogeneous workforce (Jackson & Alvarez, 1992; Kapoor, 2011; Ul...

Features of rural life, such as low population density and greater distances from urban areas, could worsen the prospects of addiction recovery for rural residents. Gossip is a central feature of rural life, and studies have shown that being the target of it can worsen health and well-being. However, no previous study has focused on the impact of g...

Studies of the intersectionality of gender, age, mental health, and physical health on sober living outcomes can inform service provision and improve results. Data were extracted from administrative records. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to determine the association between baseline characteristics and reasons for leaving. Women left...

Face-to-face mutual-aid meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous shuttered with the onset of COVID-19. Research could not be conducted quickly enough to provide guidance for how to respond. However, two powerful tools could be leveraged: the research on mutual aid conducted before the pandemic and the vast number of virtual resources that proliferated...

Background: Clinicians have been required to assess client strengths at substance use treatment admission for two decades. Yet little is known about identified strengths in this population that could make it easier for clients to accept having this illness. Objectives: This study explored the profile of clients’ strengths and whether strengths vari...

Background: A robust literature on gratitude has accumulated in recent years as a result of the positive psychology movement. Gratitude is a prominent theme in the 12 step program Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and yet there is little empirical research on the role of gratitude in addiction recovery, and less still on the role of gratitude in AA. Metho...

Previous research has suggested that forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others might function differently over the course of addiction recovery. However, we know little about the longitudinal process of these dimensions of forgiveness for individuals addressing alcohol-use disorders. Increased knowledge would inform the content and sequencing o...

Methods: A 30-month panel study recruited 364 individuals with alcohol dependence. Multilevel models examined drinking and AA at six months as predictors of both the levels and trajectories of seven dimensions of spirituality assessed five times over 6 - 30 months. Results: Controlling for AA involvement, less drinking was associated with higher...

Gratitude is a central component of addiction recovery for many, yet it has received scant attention in addiction research. In a sample of 67 individuals entering abstinence-based alcohol-use-disorder treatment, this study employed gratitude and abstinence variables from sequential assessments (baseline, 6 months, 12 months) to model theorized caus...

Little is known about the use of positive psychology interventions (PPI) in addictions treatment. Questionnaires and interviews with alcohol and substance use disorder counselors explored theories of how PPIs might work, the degree to which they are used, and downsides. Results suggested that positive and pathology-based themes were attended in equ...

This article presents the results of a study conducted to prospectively assess the relationship between spirituality and number of alcoholic drinks among Chilean adolescents while controlling for extraneous factors. A convenience sample of 661 adolescent–parent pairs from Santiago, Chile, completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire between...

This study examined whether increases in purpose in life (PIL) over 2.5 years were associated with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) remission among 364 individuals with alcohol dependence. Remission from alcohol dependence at final follow-up was associated with significantly greater increases in PIL over time, compare...

This study is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial that tested the effects of a gratitude intervention on well-being in a sample of individuals in outpatient treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Follow-up qualitative interviews unexpectedly revealed that participants found the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to b...

This mixed methods pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of a web-based gratitude exercise (the ‘Three Good Things’ exercise (TGT)) among 23 adults in outpatient treatment for alcohol use disorder. Participants were randomized to TGT or a placebo condition. The intervention was feasible with high rates of completion. Parti...

Introduction. Sleep problem is a frequent complaint of alcohol-dependent individuals during chronic use of alcohol, acute withdrawal, and even after sustained abstinence. Insomnia is associated with complaints of sleep-onset, sleep-maintenance, early morning awakening and nonrestorative sleep. Methods. Totally 364 alcohol-dependent individuals were...

IntroductionSleep disturbance is a frequent complaint of alcoholdependent patients during the chronic use of alcohol, acute withdrawal, and even after sustained abstinence. Insomnia is asso-ciated with complaints of the insufficient duration, quality, or timing of sleep. A review of the litera-ture covering 11 studies yielded an estimated prevalenc...

Insomnia and depressive symptoms are common symptoms among alcohol-dependent (AD) patients. AD individuals (N = 364) were assessed during 2004-2009 in the Midwestern United States at baseline and 6-month intervals with the Sleep Problems Questionnaire, Time-Line Follow-Back interview, and the depression subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory. Hier...

Background: Drinking goals at treatment entry are a promising, yet under-studied mechanism of change in alcohol use following treatment. It is not known who, upon treatment entry, is likely to desire abstinence as a drinking goal and whether desiring abstinence as a drinking goal influences alcohol use following treatment. Methods: Data from a 2...

ABSTRACT Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) states that recovery is possible through spiritual experiences and spiritual awakenings. Research examining spirituality as a mediator of AA's effect on drinking has been mixed. It is unknown whether such findings are due to variations in the operationalization of key constructs, such as AA and spirituality. To an...

Advances in positive psychology have grown exponentially over the past decade. The addictions field has experienced its own growth in a positive direction, embodied by the recovery movement. Despite parallel developments, and great momentum on both sides, there has been little crosspollination. This article introduces positive psychology and the re...

This study compares 41 Black and 124 White adolescents at intake and discharge from a residential treatment program for substance-use disorders. Study data were obtained as part of a larger study (N = 195) that sought to assess the relationship of helping behavior and addiction recovery. This post-hoc analysis aims to identify cultural strengths th...

Research suggests that discrimination contributes to increased substance use among sexual minorities. Subtle discrimination and witnessing mistreatment, however, have received little attention. Using minority stress theory as a conceptual framework the authors examined the intersection of sexual orientation, experiencing and witnessing incivility a...

This study explores the role of sexual orientation and college campus climate on students' alcohol and other drug use (AOD). Although contemporary biases are expressed through violence, they are often manifested in subtle forms, some of which may be unintentional (Nadal et al., 2010). Further, bystanders to harassment can be negatively affected (Sc...

Although women make up one third of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) membership, research on gender and AA has been limited. Findings in the literature are mixed, with few empirical investigations of factors that may moderate any gender differences found. AA is highly interpersonal, and research has found that women are more extroverted than men. The curr...

Insomnia is common, persistent, and increases the risk for relapse in alcohol-dependent (AD) patients. Abstinence has long been considered the best strategy for allowing sleep to normalize, although how many and which patients respond to abstinence is unknown. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence and correlates of both baseline...

Although spiritual change is hypothesized to contribute to recovery from alcohol dependence, few studies have used prospective data to investigate this hypothesis. Prior studies have also been limited to treatment-seeking and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) samples. This study included alcohol-dependent individuals, both in treatment and not, to investig...

This study identifies factors associated with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) membership in a sample of 81 persons who have achieved at least one year of total abstinence from alcohol and other drugs. Forty-four were AA members, 37 were not. Logistic regression was used to test the cross-sectional associations of baseline demographic, substance-related,...

Inhalant use is a serious global problem with consequences equal to or surpassing those of other drugs. Regrettably, few prior studies have examined inhalant users' patterns of service and treatment utilization. The purpose of this study is to identify factors associated with service use and barriers to treatment among a nationally representative s...

Evidence from multiple lines of research supports the effectiveness and practical importance of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Conference presenters discussed the relationship between 12-Step participation and abstinence among various populations, including adolescents, women, and urban drug users. Insight from the arts and humanitie...

Heroin use is associated with many serious consequences.While effective treatments exist, barriers to services persist. Understanding service use and barriers to treatment can structure treatment practice and target interventions for those who are most at risk. To describe patterns and correlates of substance abuse service utilization and treatment...

Heat maps are presented here as an innovative technique for evaluating longitudinal drinking outcomes. The Life Transitions Study followed alcohol dependent individuals for 2.5 years during 2004???2009 in a Midwestern city (N = 364). The TimeLine Follow- Back obtained drinking information. Heat map results were compared with those obtained using gr...

This study addresses an unexplained finding in the alcoholism treatment field: despite the health and socioeconomic disparities that exist between blacks and whites at intake, blacks and whites achieve equivalent treatment outcomes. Using Project MATCH data, this study explores religiousness and spirituality as strengths in the African American com...

Alcoholics Anonymous participation has been measured in addiction research, but few validated tools distinguish components of this multi-dimensional construct. This study provides psychometric findings for the scale "Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS)", a brief assessment of AA-related helping (AAH). Data are derived from a sample of treatment-see...

The purpose of this study is to compare black and white adolescents’ levels of spirituality, religiousness, and subsequent treatment outcomes. The sample included 193 substance dependent youths admitted into chemical dependency residential treatment. Spirituality/religiosity was assessed with the DSES and the RBB. Altruism was assessed with the SOS...

PURPOSE: Information visualization, such as quantitative visualization advocated by Edward Tufte, has been used as a powerful tool for data exploration in a range of disciplines including epidemiology, economics, and genomics, but has been underutilized in social work research. This study demonstrates how quantitative visualization methods were use...

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) participation often is of interest in alcoholism treatment research, but few measures assessing components of this multi-dimensional construct have been developed with known psychometric properties. This study provides psychometric findings for the Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS) scale, a brief self-report inventory th...

This study reviews extant measures of cultural competence from many disciplines and evaluates their suitability for social work education based on 8 criteria: validity, reliability, relevance to social justice, item clarity, definition of diversity, coherence, social desirability, and appropriateness for social work. Nineteen instruments met inclus...

Scholars have been struggling with the problem of studying Alcoholics Anonymous scientifically since the 1960s. Several defining elements of AA make randomized clinical trials impossible: there are no membership records; self-selection can account for change; membership boundaries are fluid; ethical considerations prohibit use of control groups; an...