An Exploratory Analysis of Changes in Self-Regulation and Social Support Among Men and Women in Recovery.

The present study examined the association between changes in self-regulation and measures of general and specific social support that occurred across an 8 month interval among adults (n = 469: 317 men, 152 women; M age = 39.0 years) with histories of substance abuse. Participants resided in communal living, democratically governed, abstinent homes (n = 143) located across the United States. Participants' self-regulation scores, on average, increased over the 8 month period and the self-regulation change scores were significantly related to general social support. In addition, self-regulation score changes were associated with the participant's social network's support for drinking where greater support for drinking was accompanied by larger self-regulation increases. These findings augment research on multi-factor support theories and changes in self-regulation.