Browsing by Subject "happiness"

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    Happiness with recovery from alcohol and substance use disorders predits abstinence and treatment retention
    (2024) Krentzman, Amy R; Zemore, Sarah E; Bowen, Elizabeth A
    Purpose: Although research has primarily focused on the role of indicators of poor functioning in treatment outcomes for alcohol and other substance use disorders (SUDs), a growing body of positive psychology research explores the importance of indicators of wellbeing for SUD recovery. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from an intervention study to clarify the association between wellbeing indicators and treatment outcomes. Methods: We recruited participants (N=81; M=39 years old, 53% female, 26% BIPOC, 46% indicating alcohol as primary addiction) from three treatment centers in the Upper Midwest in 2020-2021. We used baseline survey data to examine the association between wellbeing indicators (assessed M=62 [SD=57] days after intake at host treatment center) and two treatment outcomes: abstinence (yes/no) and treatment retention (leaving on good terms/leaving for other reasons). Wellbeing indicators included positive affect, serenity, flourishing, happiness with recovery, satisfaction with life, trait gratitude, commitment to sobriety, quality of life, and confidence staying sober. We calculated point biserial correlations between wellbeing indicators and binary outcomes. Logistic regression models examined the relationship between each wellbeing indicator significant in correlation analyses with treatment outcomes while controlling for urges to use, recruitment site, and days of sobriety. Results: Serenity (OR=1.386) and happiness with recovery (OR=1.625) were associated with abstinence; and positive affect (OR=1.121), flourishing (OR=1.119), and happiness with recovery (OR=1.501) were associated with leaving treatment on good terms, controlling for covariates (p<.05). Flourishing (OR=1.115) was marginally associated with abstinence and serenity (OR=1.234) was marginally associated with leaving on good terms at p<.10. Conclusions: People who are happy with their recovery are more likely to remain sober and leave treatment on good terms. Assessed via a single-item measure we developed ( “Overall, I am happy with my recovery”), results show promise for a novel, simple assessment approach to measuring wellbeing in recovery and a potential target for intervention: increase happiness with recovery. Future studies should explore the relationship between wellbeing indicators, especially happiness with recovery, and treatment outcomes using larger samples and among subpopulations of people in recovery from SUD.
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    Why World Leaders Should Prioritize the Well-Being of their People
    (2022-01) Sanborne, Erika
    Throughout this paper, I move towards the endpoint of exploring how the measurement of societal functioning through a multidimensional conceptualization of well-being can reorient development policy and make its implementation more effective. Centering national policy on the goals of multidimensional well-being should lead to more sustainability, reduced ecological footprints, moderate economic development, and additional, mutually reinforcing outcomes. In Section 1, I discuss subjective well-being, which is one key dimension of overall well-being, a necessary but not sufficient indicator to track in a well-being economy. Section 2 is a review of sociology of mental health literature on well-being, focused on the social stress process. Section 3 covers the most popular global health and well-being surveys of today and critiques the most common subjective well-being measures in particular. In Section 4, I describe what a multidimensional well-being economy paradigm might look like, based on some real-world examples, and limited by some principles that tend to explain why the leaders of the world, historically, do not make the best choices, defined as those which would prioritize the well-being of their people. But I ultimately believe a paradigm shift in development is possible, and already beginning, and that it is essential. The reality is that what is required for human flourishing is inherently sustainable and ecological. It is also affordable, and some experts do believe it is possible. We can do this. Will we?