Academic Journal
Testing a social mechanism of recovery high schools: Peer affiliation as a mediator of substance use outcomes.
| Τίτλος: | Testing a social mechanism of recovery high schools: Peer affiliation as a mediator of substance use outcomes. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Berny LM; Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA; Prevention Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA; National Center on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery, Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: lberny@mgh.harvard.edu., Hennessy EA; National Center on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery, Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Recovery Research Institute, Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: ehennessy@mgh.harvard.edu., Finch AJ; Department of Human and Organizational Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. Electronic address: andrew.j.finch@vanderbilt.edu., Tanner-Smith EE; Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA; Prevention Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA. Electronic address: etanners@uoregon.edu. |
| Πηγή: | Drug and alcohol dependence [Drug Alcohol Depend] 2026 Aug 01; Vol. 285, pp. 113240. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jun 19. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Ireland NLM ID: 7513587 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-0046 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03768716 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Drug Alcohol Depend Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Limerick : Elsevier Original Publication: Lausanne, Elsevier Sequoia. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Substance-Related Disorders*/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders*/therapy , Substance-Related Disorders*/rehabilitation , Peer Group* , Schools*, Humans ; Adolescent ; Female ; Male ; Longitudinal Studies ; Treatment Outcome |
| Περίληψη: | Purpose: Limited options for developmentally appropriate continuing care represent a critical barrier for youth in recovery. As one of the few options designed specifically for adolescents, recovery high schools (RHSs) warrant investigation to better understand their effects and the mechanisms through which they operate. This study examined the long-term effects of RHS attendance and tested whether peer-level social change operates as a mechanism. Methods: Data were drawn from a longitudinal, group-design study of RHS effectiveness. Twelve-month follow-up substance use outcomes were compared between 146 adolescents who enrolled in RHSs after treatment and a propensity score-balanced comparison group of 117 adolescents who enrolled in traditional schools. Time-lagged mediation models tested whether recovery-positive peer affiliation at the 6-month follow-up mediated these effects. Results: Relative to the comparison group at the 12-month follow-up, adolescents who attended an RHS were less likely to have alcohol use disorder (OR = 0.31) or a drug use disorder (OR = 0.42), reported fewer cannabis use days (IRR = 0.62), and had higher odds of abstinence (OR = 2.53) after adjusting for baseline levels. Recovery-positive peer affiliation mediated the beneficial effects of RHS attendance on meeting criteria for a drug use disorder, cannabis use frequency, and abstinence. Conclusions: These findings provide robust evidence of the long-term beneficial effects of RHS attendance and indicate that some benefits result from improvements in recovery-positive peer affiliation. Improving access to youth-focused recovery supports that facilitate positive social network changes could help reduce relapse risk and sustain treatment effects. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Grant Information: | R36 DA059710 United States DA NIDA NIH HHS |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Adolescents; Continuing care; Mediation; Peer affiliation; Recovery schools; Recovery supports; Social processes |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260622 Date Completed: 20260628 Latest Revision: 20260726 |
| Update Code: | 20260726 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2026.113240 |
| PMID: | 42330591 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1879-0046 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2026.113240 |