BOSTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say spirituality can have positive effects on those trying to quit alcohol.
Lead author John F. Kelly of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and colleagues find spirituality increases with an increase in attendance to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous -- a 12-step program to control alcohol dependence. This is especially true of those individuals with low spirituality at the beginning of the study.
However, the same amount of recovery is also evident in both agnostics and atheists, which indicates that while spirituality is an important mechanism of behavioral change for Alcoholics Anonymous, it is not the only method used.
"Although this is not the only way that Alcoholics Anonymous helps individuals recover, I think these findings support the notion that Alcoholics Anonymous works in part by enhancing spiritual practices," Kelly says in a statement.
Kelly says the study involved more than 1,500 participants going through the recovery process, with data being gathered at three, six, nine, 12 and 15 months.
The finding are online ahead of print in the March issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
