New research shows that attending AA meetings may increase spirituality, which can lead to better alcohol outcomes and an improved rate of recovery. According to the study, as attendance at AA meetings increases, so do the spiritual beliefs of participants, even those individuals who had a low interest in spirituality at the beginning of the study.

Researchers at the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital assessed more than 1,500 adults throughout their recovery process, with data being gathered at three, six, nine, 12, and 15 months. The study utilized data on their attendance at AA meetings, their individual spirituality/religiosity practices and overall alcohol-use outcomes to determine if spirituality is indeed a mechanism of behavior change.

The results indicated that there was a robust association between an increase in attendance at AA meetings with increased spirituality and a decrease in the frequency and intensity of alcohol use over time. One of the most interesting aspects of the research was that the same amount of recovery was seen in both agnostics and atheists, which indicates that while spirituality is an important mechanism of behavioral change for AA, it is not the only method used.

“Many people will be surprised that alcoholic patients with little or no interest in spirituality attended AA and seemed to change even more than did those who had a pre-existing, strong sense of spirituality,” said Keith Humphreys, a Career Research Scientist with the Veterans Health Administration and Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University. “AA is thus much more broad in its appeal than is commonly recognized.”