Editing Alcoholics Anonymous (section)

==== Long-term recovery effectiveness ====
There have been numerous studies on the effectiveness of AA. A 2006 study by Rudolf H. Moos and Bernice S. Moos saw a 67% success rate 16 years later for the 24.9% of alcoholics who ended up, on their own, undergoing a lot of AA treatment.<ref name="PMC2220012">{{cite journal |last1=Moos |first1=Rudolf H. |last2=Moos |first2=BS |date=June 2006 |title=Participation in Treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous: A 16-Year Follow-Up of Initially Untreated Individuals |journal=Journal of Clinical Psychology |volume=62 |issue=6 |pages=735–750 |doi=10.1002/jclp.20259 |pmc=2220012 |pmid=16538654}}</ref><ref name="PMC4285560">{{cite journal |author=Humphreys |author2=Blodgett |author3=Wagner |year=2014 |title=Estimating the efficacy of Alcoholics Anonymous without self-selection bias: an instrumental variables re-analysis of randomized clinical trials |journal=Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research |volume=38 |issue=11 |pages=2688–94 |doi=10.1111/acer.12557 |pmc=4285560 |pmid=25421504}}</ref>  However, this may be influenced by [[self-selection bias]].<ref name="PMC2746426">{{cite journal |last1=Kaskutas |first1=Lee Ann |year=2009 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous Effectiveness: Faith Meets Science |journal=Journal of Addictive Diseases |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=145–157 |doi=10.1080/10550880902772464 |pmc=2746426 |pmid=19340677}}</ref><ref name="UnbrokenBrain">{{cite book |last=Szalavitz |first=Maia |title=Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction |date=2016 |quote=the research that does show AA to be effective is overwhelmingly flawed by what is known as selection bias.}}</ref> [[Project MATCH]], a 1990s multi-site study, found AA to be more effective than no treatment.<ref>{{cite news |author=Keith Humphreys |title=Here's proof that Alcoholics Anonymous is just as effective as professional psychotherapies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/09/heres-proof-that-alcoholics-anonymous-is-just-as-effective-as-professional-psychotherapies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160531201422/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/09/heres-proof-that-alcoholics-anonymous-is-just-as-effective-as-professional-psychotherapies/ |archive-date=2016-05-31 |access-date=2018-05-29 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |quote=AA skeptics were confident that by putting AA up against the best professional psychotherapies in a highly rigorous study, Project MATCH would prove beyond doubt that the 12-steps were mumbo jumbo.  The skeptics were humbled: Twelve-step facilitation was as effective as the best psychotherapies professionals had developed.}}</ref> Other studies link increased AA attendance with higher spirituality and reduced alcohol consumption.<ref name="KellyEddie2020">{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=John F. |last2=Eddie |first2=David |date=February 2020 |title=The role of spirituality and religiousness in aiding recovery from alcohol and other drug problems: An investigation in a national U.S. sample. |url= |journal=Psychology of Religion and Spirituality |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=116–123 |doi=10.1037/rel0000295 |issn=1941-1022 |eissn=1943-1562 |pmc=7989793 |pmid=33767804}}</ref><ref name="Sánchez-IglesiasSaizMolina2022">{{cite journal |last1=Sánchez-Iglesias |first1=Iván |last2=Saiz |first2=Jesús |last3=Molina |first3=Antonio J. |last4=Goldsby |first4=Tamara L. |date=31 December 2022 |title=Reporting and Interpreting Effect Sizes in Applied Health-Related Settings: The Case of Spirituality and Substance Abuse |url= |journal=Healthcare |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=133 |doi=10.3390/healthcare11010133 |eissn=2227-9032 |pmc=9818974 |pmid=36611592 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Brandsma1980">{{cite book |last1=Brandsma |first1=Jeffery M |url=https://archive.org/details/outpatienttreatm00bran |title=Outpatient Treatment of Alcoholism: a review and comparative study |last2=Maultsby |first2=Maxie C |last3=Welsh |first3=Richard J |publisher=University Park Press |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-8391-1393-5 |location=Baltimore, MD |oclc=5219646 |url-access=registration}} Brandsma 1980 is paywalled, but [[Outpatient Treatment of Alcoholism|is summarized in the Wikipedia]]</ref>

A 2020 Cochrane review concluded that AA is more effective than other treatments, such as MET and CBT, in terms of abstinence rates. It also noted similar success in reducing drinking and alcohol-related problems, though this conclusion was based on moderate-certainty evidence.<ref name="Cochrane2020distilled">{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=John F. |last2=Abry |first2=Alexandra |last3=Ferri |first3=Marica |last4=Humphreys |first4=Keith |year=2020 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-Step Facilitation Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Distillation of a 2020 Cochrane Review for Clinicians and Policy Makers |journal=Alcohol and Alcoholism |volume=55 |issue=6 |pages=641–651 |doi=10.1093/alcalc/agaa050 |pmc=8060988 |pmid=32628263}}</ref><ref name="NYTCochrane2020">{{cite news |last1=Frakt |first1=Austin |last2=Carroll |first2=Aaron |date=11 March 2020 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous vs. Other Approaches: The Evidence Is Now In |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/upshot/alcoholics-anonymous-new-evidence.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The review found that AA participation via AA twelve step facilitation (AA/TSF) had sustained remission rates 20-60% above other well-established treatments. Additionally, 4 of the 5 economic studies in the review found that AA/TSF lowered healthcare costs considerably.{{efn|"Twelve-Step Facilitation (TSF) interventions include extended counseling, adopting some of the techniques and principles of AA, as well as brief interventions designed to link individuals to community AA groups."<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD012880.pub2 |pmid=32159228 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs for alcohol use disorder |year=2020 |last1=Kelly |first1=John F. |last2=Humphreys |first2=Keith |last3=Ferri |first3=Marica |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=3 |issue=CD012880 |page=15 |pmc=7065341}}</ref>}}<ref name="Cochrane2020" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=How Effective is Alcoholics Anonymous? |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/how-effective-is-alcoholics-anonymous}}</ref> [[Nick Heather]], an addiction researcher, critiqued the review, arguing it may have a sample bias and that it failed to measure outcomes like quality of life or alcohol dependence, which are important for evaluating recovery.<ref name="pmidhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16856072/">{{cite journal |author=Ferri M, Amato L, Davoli M |year=2006 |title=Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programmes for alcohol dependence. |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&tool=sumsearch.org/cite&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks&id=16856072 |journal=Cochrane Database Syst Rev |volume= |issue=3 |pages=CD005032 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD005032.pub2 |pmc= |pmid=16856072}}</ref><ref name="HEATHER2020">{{cite journal |last1=Heather |first1=Nick |year=2020 |title=Let's not turn back the clock: Comments on Kelly et al., "Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-Step Facilitation Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Distillation of a 2020 Cochrane Review for Clinicians and Policy Makers" |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347836811 |journal=Alcohol and Alcoholism |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=377–379 |doi=10.1093/alcalc/agaa137 |pmid=33316028}}</ref> The authors responded, stating their review showed AA is at least as effective as other treatments and more cost-effective.<ref name="HEATHER2020" /><ref name="Cochrane2020_p35">Kelly, John F.; Humphreys, Keith; Ferri, Marica (2020). "Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs for alcohol use disorder". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 3 (CD012880): 35. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012880.pub2. PMC 7065341. PMID 32159228.</ref> The authors also noted the lack of quality-of-life measures was due to the limitations of the reviewed studies.<ref name="HEATHER2020" />