Tillson Martha, Lewis Alexander H
University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, United States.
Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida, United States.
Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2024 Jul 18;12:100263. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2024.100263. eCollection 2024 Sep.
A growing evidence base supports the value of peer recovery support specialists (PRSS), particularly due to shared lived experience with participants (recipients of PRSS services). However, little research has examined whether congruence on certain aspects of "peerness" (e.g., demographics, experiences) matters for PRSS-participant relationships.
Through a pilot study under the NIDA-funded Initiative for Justice and Emerging Adult Populations (JEAP), adults who had recently received PRSS services (=100) were interviewed. Participants completed a modified version of the Scales for Participant Alliance with Recovery Coach (SPARC), a measure of PRSS-participant relationship quality, and rated themselves as different/similar to their PRSS in several domains using a six-point scale.
Participants had met with their PRSS for a median of 10 sessions over two months. SPARC scores were unrelated to participant demographics or lived experiences. However, better-quality relationships were reported by participants who believed their PRSS was similar to them in relationships with family (=.004), spirituality/religion (=.001), age (<.001), and overall recovery pathway (<.001). Total SPARC scores were not significantly correlated with perceived PRSS-participant similarities on gender, race/ethnicity, substances of choice, and history of incarceration or substance use treatment.
Results from this pilot study suggest that PRSS-participant alignment on past experiences (e.g., prior incarceration, choice of drugs) may not be needed to establish good-quality working relationships. However, similarities on factors related to current life stage (e.g., age, family relationships) and/or recovery process (e.g., overall pathway, spirituality) may be more important. Future research should employ mixed-methods approaches to elucidate these unique findings.
越来越多的证据支持同伴康复支持专家（PRSS）的价值，特别是因为他们与参与者（PRSS服务的接受者）有共同的生活经历。然而，很少有研究探讨在“同伴性”的某些方面（如人口统计学、经历）上的一致性对PRSS与参与者关系是否重要。
通过美国国立药物滥用研究所资助的司法与新兴成年人群体倡议（JEAP）下的一项试点研究，对最近接受PRSS服务的成年人（=100）进行了访谈。参与者完成了一份修改版的与康复教练的参与者联盟量表（SPARC），这是一种衡量PRSS与参与者关系质量的量表，并使用六点量表对自己在几个领域与PRSS的异同进行了评分。
参与者在两个月内与他们的PRSS平均会面了10次。SPARC得分与参与者的人口统计学或生活经历无关。然而，那些认为他们的PRSS在家庭关系（=.004）、精神/宗教（=.001）、年龄（<.001）和整体康复途径（<.001）方面与自己相似的参与者报告了质量更好的关系。SPARC总分与在性别、种族/民族、选择的物质以及监禁或物质使用治疗史方面感知到的PRSS与参与者的相似性没有显著相关性。
这项试点研究的结果表明，建立良好的工作关系可能不需要PRSS与参与者在过去的经历（如先前的监禁、药物选择）上保持一致。然而，在与当前生活阶段相关的因素（如年龄、家庭关系）和/或康复过程（如整体途径、精神性）上的相似性可能更重要。未来的研究应该采用混合方法来阐明这些独特的发现。
