Attributions for the development of substance addiction among participants in a 12-step oriented treatment program.

Attributions for the development of substance addiction problems were collected at admission (Time 1) and two months later (Time 2) for 103 participants in a residential treatment program. These attributions were grouped into personal, parental, and societal causation measures. At both Times 1 and 2, participants perceived personal causes as being more responsible for their substance addictions than were parental and social causes. Additionally, personal causes were perceived as being more responsible, and societal causes were perceived as being less responsible, at Time 2 relative to Time 1. Moreover, after controlling for the Time 1 measures, societal causation at Time 2 was positively related to depression and negatively related to treatment completion. Thus, participants accepted more responsibility as they progressed through treatment, which in turn was associated with higher levels of psychological functioning and treatment completion. These findings have meaningful implications, especially if replicated in other treatment settings with research that employs an experimental design.