Twelve Defining Moments in the History of Alcoholics Anonymous
Recent Developments in Alcoholism Volume 18 pp. 37-58


Misconceptions about Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) abound in spite of (or because of) the thousands of theses, dissertations, books, professional and popular articles, and Internet commentaries that have been written about AA.

One of the most pervasive characterizations of AA is that it is a “treatment” for alcoholism—a characterization that distorts the meaning of both mutual aid and alcoholism treatment.

This article describes 12 character-defining moments in the history of AA that highlight the differences between AA and alcoholism treatment.



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The Twelve-Step Recovery Model of AA: A Voluntary Mutual Help Association

Recent Developments in Alcoholism Volume 18 pp. 1-27

Alcoholism treatment has evolved to mean professionalized, scientifically based rehabilitation. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is not a treatment method; it is far better understood as a Twelve-Step Recovery Program within a voluntary self-help/mutual aid organization of self-defined alcoholics.

The Twelve-Step Recovery Model is elaborated in three sections, patterned on the AA logo (a triangle within a circle): The triangle’s legs represent recovery, service, and unity; the circle represents the reinforcing effect of the three legs upon each other as well as the “technology” of the sharing circle and the fellowship. The first leg of the triangle, recovery, refers to the journey of individuals to abstinence and a new “way of living.” The second leg, service, refers to helping other alcoholics which also connects the participants into a fellowship. The third leg, unity, refers to the fellowship of recovering alcoholics, their groups, and organizations.

The distinctive AA organizational structure of an inverted pyramid is one in which the members in autonomous local groups direct input to the national service bodies creating a democratic, egalitarian organization maximizing recovery.

Analysts describe the AA recovery program as complex, implicitly grounded in sound psychological principles, and more sophisticated than is typically understood. AA provides a nonmedicalized and anonymous “way of living” in the community and should probably be referred to as the Twelve-Step/Twelve Tradition Recovery Model in order to clearly differentiate it from professionally based twelve-step treatments.

There are additional self-help/mutual aid groups for alcoholics who prefer philosophies other than AA.

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Suggestive linkage at 9p22 in bipolar disorder weighted by alcohol abuse

American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics Published Online: 3 Mar 2009

Bipolar disorder (BP) is a highly heritable disorder, however attempts to map genetic risk factors are challenging.

One possible reason for these difficulties is the genetic heterogeneity of BP. Hence, focusing on clinically homogeneous families to create a genetically more homogeneous sample may increase the power of finding a specific variant.

Alcohol abuse (AA) and alcohol dependence (AD) are familial in BP families, and these families may carry a specific risk variant for BP.

We tested this hypothesis by performing a genome-wide linkage scan in 638 pedigrees (1,835 individuals) from the National Institute of Mental Health Genetics Initiative for BP, weighting the evidence for linkage according to the family's frequency of AA or AD. Using AA weighting, we identified a linkage region on 9p22.2 with an NPL score of 3.23. The region had previously been identified in a meta-analysis of linkage in bipolar disorder.

We used permutation analysis to assess if weighting by AA increased the linkage signal more than expected by chance and observed a significant P-value (P = 0.048). Therefore, the genetic risk factor for BP on 9p22.2 has an increased effect in families with high levels of AA.

In summary, we present an example of using covariates such as AA and AD to define subtypes of BP, demonstrate how using such subtypes can improve the power of a linkage scan, and demonstrate statistical approaches to validate the suggested interaction

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Role of GABRA2 on risk for alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis dependence in the Iowa Adoption Studies

Psychiatric Genetics:Volume 19(2)April 2009pp 91-98

A number of studies have shown that genetic variation at GABRA2 alters vulnerability to alcohol dependence. The exact identity of the causal variant(s), and the relationship of these variants to other forms of substance use and behavioral illness is, however, uncertain.

Therefore, we genotyped 516 individuals from the Iowa Adoption Studies, a large longitudinal case and control adoption study of substance use, at 39 single nucleotide polymorphisms encompassing the GABRA2 locus and analyzed them with respect to their lifetime history of three common forms of substance use dependence [alcohol dependence (AD), nicotine dependence (ND), and cannabis dependence (CD)] in the Iowa Adoption Studies and relevant exposure variables.

Using regression analysis, we found substantial evidence that both GABRA2 genotype and haplotype are significantly related to vulnerability to AD, ND, and CD, with the strongest relationships noted with respect to ND. Consistent with earlier studies suggesting exposure is an important step in the development of substance use, we found the inclusion of substance exposure data in our analytic models markedly increased the strength of the genetic associations of GABRA2 haplotype with substance use. Finally, we report that the genetic effects were markedly more pronounced in females than in males.

We conclude that genetic variation at or near the GABRA2 locus significantly affects vulnerability not only to AD, but to other forms of substance use including ND and CD, and that the effects may be sex dependent

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The Role of AA Sponsors: A Pilot Study
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on March 18, 2009


The aim of this study was to explore the roles of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) sponsors and to describe the characteristics of a sample of sponsors.

Sample characteristics were as follows: the median length of AA attendance was 9.5 years (range 5–28); the median length of sobriety was 11 years (range 4.5–28); the median number of sponsees per sponsor was 1 but there was a wide range (0–17, interquartile range 3.75); and the sponsors were highly affiliated to AA (median AAAS score 8.75, range 5.5–8.75, maximum possible score 9). Past alcohol dependence scores were surprisingly low: 5 (18%) sponsors had mild, 14 (50%) moderate and 9 (32%) severe dependence according to the SADQ-C (median 26.5, range 11–56).

Sponsorship roles were as follows: 16 roles were identified through the initial content analysis. These were distilled into three super-ordinate roles through a thematic analysis: (1) encouraging sponsees to work the programme of AA (doing the 12 steps and engaging in AA activity); (2) support (regular contact, emotional support and practical support); and (3) carrying the message of AA (sharing sponsor's personal experience of recovery with sponsees).

The roles identified broadly corresponded with the AA literature delineating the duties of a sponsor. This non-random sample of sponsors was highly engaged in AA activity but only had a past history of moderate alcohol dependence.

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Age Variability in the Association Between Heavy Episodic Drinking and Adolescent Suicide Attempts: Findings From a Large-Scale, School-Based Screening Program

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: March 2009 - Volume 48 - Issue 3 - pp 262-270

Alcohol use is a risk factor for suicidal behavior among adolescents, but it is not clear whether this association is consistent during the adolescent period. This study examined the age-specific associations between heavy episodic drinking (HED) and self-reported suicide attempts in a large and diverse sample of adolescents.

Heavy episodic drinking was significantly associated with self-reported suicide attempts (odds ratio 1.78, p <.05) controlling for depressive symptoms. However, there was substantial age variability in this association, with the association between HED and self-reported attempts stronger among younger adolescents. Among youths aged 13 years and younger, those who reported an episode of HED during the past year were roughly 2.6 times more likely to report an attempt than those who did not report HED in the past year, in contrast to 1.2 times among youths aged 18 years and older.

Heavy episodic drinking is a clear risk factor for suicidal behavior among younger adolescents, beyond the risk conveyed by depressive symptoms. Further research investigating the bases for increased suicide risk among younger adolescents engaging in HED is warranted. Results provide support to AACAP's practice parameters calling for attention to substance abuse in the assessment of suicide risk and suggest that routine screening for HED by physicians may improve the detection of adolescent suicide risk, particularly among younger adolescents.

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Molecular Nutrition and Food Research,
Molecular Nutrition & Food Research Volume 53 Issue 2, Pages 240 - 255


Past reviews have concluded that there is no association between alcohol use and prostate cancer incidence.

We performed a meta-analysis of existing epidemiological studies finding, in contrast, evidence to suggest that prostate incidence is positively linearly associated with heavier alcohol use.

This finding was largely due to the contribution of population case-control studies and those measuring men recruited before age 60. No relationship between alcohol consumption and prostate cancer was found for cohort and hospital case-control studies. Analyses of design effects modestly suggests that population case-control studies were probably better suited to identify potential alcohol-prostate cancer relationships due to the close temporal proximity of the measurement of level of alcohol consumption to diagnosis.

Future efforts should be made to exclude all ill subjects from control groups/baseline samples in addition to accounting for changes in consumption with advancing age and the onset of illness.

The alcohol-prostate cancer association remained significant despite controlling for the degree to which studies endeavored to eliminate false negatives from their control group

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