Browsing by Author "Krentzman, Amy"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    How a gratitude and positive activity journal supports recovery from alcohol and other substance use disorders: a framework derived from grounded theory
    (2020-03) Krentzman, Amy
    Purpose: Improving subjective wellbeing in recovery is a compelling strategy to reduce relapse. Positive Peer Journaling (PPJ) is a daily journaling practice that combines positive psychology with behavioral activation to increase subjective wellbeing in recovery and thereby reduce relapse. We conducted a pilot feasibility study of PPJ that included the collection of qualitative data from audio-recorded interviews of participants describing their experience using PPJ. The purpose of the current study was to analyze these qualitative data to produce a theoretical model describing how PPJ might support sustained abstinence. Methods: Participants were 15 women receiving residential treatment for addiction (M= 37 years, SD=10; 73% with household income < $15,000; 70% with civil or criminal court cases; 90% with trauma history; mean length of sobriety 48 days, SD=32). The journal leverages positive psychology exercises (gratitude practices and acts of kindness), values exercises, and activity scheduling to review the past day and plan the next day. Interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analytic techniques and grounded theory methodology to capture themes in the data, study the ways in which the themes were related, and build a theory to describe how the journal might work to support recovery. Results: Although participants typically reported negative mood, reviewing the past day helped them to perceive life in recovery more positively. Participants reported that planning the next day helped them to remember to complete tasks they usually forgot, which produced positive emotions including pride and confidence. Positive emotion and satisfaction with life are key elements of subjective wellbeing. Conclusions: Increased subjective wellbeing as the result of PPJ could help increase the discrepancy between active substance use and life in recovery which in turn would encourage taking the action necessary to maintain sobriety. Our findings also might describe how gratitude practices operate in addiction recovery more generally. In future work we will pilot PPJ in a randomized control trial to obtain further evidence of feasibility, acceptability, and impact.
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    It Takes a Village Episode 14: Interview with Dr. Amy Krentzman
    (2020-07-01) Barry, Korina; Krentzman, Amy
    In this episode Korina chats with Dr. Amy Krentzman, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work. During our conversation, Dr. Krentzman shares what we know about addiction recovery support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Kretnzman also highlights brand new resources that she has created on supporting addiction recovery. These resources can be found at the links below.
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    Journaling to Support Recovery from Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders: Feasibility Results from a Randomized Controlled Pilot
    (2023-06) Krentzman, Amy; Hoeppner, Susanne; Hoeppner, Bettina; Barnett, Nancy
    Purpose: Positive psychology, behavioral activation, and journaling have been shown to improve affect and decrease addictive behavior among individuals with SUD and AUD. We combined aspects of these approaches in “Positive Recovery Journaling” (PRJ), a daily writing practice, to improve wellbeing in early recovery. In this pilot randomized controlled trial, we sought to determine the feasibility and acceptability of PRJ in a study conducted remotely during COVID 19. Methods: Participants (N = 81; M = 39 years old, 46% indicating alcohol as primary addiction) were recruited from three treatment centers in the Upper Midwest. Individuals randomized to PRJ learned the technique over 8 group sessions and practiced it daily for 4 weeks followed immediately by completion of daily assessment instruments. The control group only completed daily assessment instruments. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed by recruitment, retention, rates of journal upload, and group attendance. We used multilevel models to compare the treatment and control groups’ average ratings of study activities as difficult, easy, satisfying, pleasant, and helpful. Results: Of patients who met inclusion criteria (N = 86), 81 (94.2%) agreed to participate. Attendance at group sessions ranged from zero to eight (M = 5.3, SD = 2.8); three (7.1%) attended zero groups and 15 (35.7%) attended all eight groups. The 42 treatment group members submitted 584 journal entries (ranging from 0 to a maximum of 28, M = 13.9, SD = 9.7). Survey completion rates at the 1-month follow-up were 53.4% for the treatment group and 71.8% of the control group (X2 p = .072). Participants rated study activities as equally easy and not difficult. The treatment group rated PRJ as significantly more satisfying, pleasant, and helpful (all at p < .001), showing high acceptability of PRJ especially since the control group reported benefitting from the daily surveys. Conclusions: This population showed a strong interest in journaling. Despite the challenges of conducting a study remotely during COVID 19, it was still possible to recruit and retain a treatment sample who attended the majority of group sessions and rated PRJ as no more difficult, and yet more satisfying, pleasant, and helpful, than the control group’s activities.
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    Research Participants Describe Recovery-Oriented Surveys as Beneficial to Recovery from Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders
    (2023-06) Krentzman, Amy; Gass, Julie; Lowery, Channel
    Purpose: Although the self-monitoring of substance and alcohol use consumption is included in many treatment protocols, research has been mixed regarding its efficacy for promoting behavior change. Most self-monitoring studies have tracked pathology-oriented constructs. The self-monitoring of recovery-oriented factors (e.g., writing a gratitude list, reaching out to others, happiness with recovery) is rarely investigated but could yield valuable insights for the development of new tools to support ongoing recovery. Methods: Participants (N = 32; M = 40 years old, 47% indicating alcohol as primary addiction) were control-group members in a randomized trial while enrolled in AUD and SUD treatment. They completed surveys daily for 30 days. Surveys included the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS); the Satisfaction with Life Scale; and single items assessing abstinence self-efficacy, urges, happiness with recovery, quality of life, commitment to sobriety, and whether participants had engaged in a set of recovery practices that day. Surveys were intended only as measurement but participants described the surveys in exit interviews as supportive of their recovery. This mixed-methods study was designed to answer these questions: Did participants obtain benefit from the surveys, and if so, to what degree? Which instruments, specifically, were most frequently mentioned as impactful? We operationalized categories of benefit (e.g., none, low, moderate, high) inductively based on qualitative interviews and tallied the percentage of participants who mentioned each instrument in the exit interviews. Results: Participants described high (n = 24, 75%), moderate (n = 3, 9%), low (n = 4, 13%), and no (n = 1, 3%) benefit from completing surveys. The top three most frequently referenced questionnaires were the PANAS (mentioned by 84% of the sample), the queries of recovery practices (69%), and items assessing urges (50%). Conclusions: Most control group members described daily recovery-oriented surveys as beneficial. The surveys functioned as a self-monitoring mechanism. These results indicate that recovery-oriented self-monitoring has potential as an intervention and can cause measurement reactivity. Developers of recovery mobile apps should include assessments of affect, recovery activities, and urges, as these queries were most frequently mentioned as impactful by our sample.