Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Robert Schlauch, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Judith Bryant, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jack Darkes, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jonathan Rottenberg, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Brent Small, Ph.D.

Keywords

Substance Use, Functioning, Flourishing

Abstract

Harmful alcohol use has continued to be one of the largest negative impact factors of daily living worldwide. Despite the pervasive use of alcohol and negative impacts that it has on the individual and society there is large disagreement on how to know when someone has “recovered” from AUD (El-Guebaly, 2012), with much of the literature focused narrowly on negative indicators (e.g., return to heavy drinking, re-occurrence of AUD symptoms). Such views have not only restricted definitions of recovery but has also created public perception that those with AUD will continue to struggle even when cessation of drinking has occurred. Although the reduction of AUD symptoms and heavy drinking are relevant for determining functioning related to alcohol use, neither provide specific information about general or physical well-being, social/occupational functioning, or quality of life (Witkiewitz & Tucker, 2020). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the rates of optimal well-being (OWB) within two large treatment seeking AUD populations and identify important predictors for high functioning in recovery. Additionally, this study utilized a data driven approach (e.g., LPA) to investigate the latent profile of OWB within the data to compare to the current traditional binary approach. Results found that rates of OWB were found within the data, suggesting that individuals diagnosed with AUD can achieve high functioning, even in the presence of drinking. Furthermore, when utilizing the LPA, results found that a significantly higher number of individuals were characterized within a high functioning group when compared to the traditional approach, calling into question the use of a binary outcome. Lastly, no specific treatment type was found to be a significant predictor of belonging to the OWB group. These findings add support to the notion that drinking behaviors are not predictive of functioning following the treatment of AUD.

Download

Share

COinS