Penn State researchers collaborate with Pennsylvania recovery community centers to identify how the centers are successful in supporting long-term recovery from substance use. In this video, hear powerful stories from Lost Dreams Awakening, located in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.
The hope of recovery from substance misuse
An estimated 21.3 million adults in the United States self-identify as either being in recovery or recovered from problematic substance use. An estimated 5 million of the US adults in recovery depend on nonprofessional continuing recovery support services — such as sober housing and recovery community centers — to maintain their recoveries.
What are recovery community centers?
Recovery community centers are a relatively new part of the recovery support landscape. They support the needs of individuals in recovery and help them connect with peers with similar experiences. Committed to a peer-support model of recovery, recovery community centers are staffed by employees and volunteers, often include drop-in centers, and facilitate many services including mutual help groups, employment assistance, and recovery coaching.
Current evidence of effectiveness
Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies report favorable outcomes associated with recovery community center attendance, such as more recovery capital, reduced substance use and higher quality of life.
A collaboration between Penn State and recovery community centers
To determine if the effects of belonging to recovery community centers could be demonstrated by the day-to-day impact of attending a recovery center, we partnered with recovery community centers in Western Pennsylvania to design and run a smartphone data collection. One organization, Lost Dreams Awakening, helped guide us as we planned our study. Lost Dreams Awakening is a non-profit recovery community organization in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Its mission is to cultivate a culture of belonging, reduce harm, promote recovery through advocacy and education — as well as to demonstrate the power and proof of long-term recovery.
Through a series on online and in-person meetings with their staff and a few members who were very generous with their time, we developed a study designed to assess the daily challenges of maintaining recovery and how recovery community centers assist their members with these challenges. The full study collected data from 97 individuals across six recovery community centers in Western Pennsylvania.
Hypotheses: This study had several hypotheses related to the daily impact of attending recovery centers. Three hypotheses predicted members would report higher levels protective daily states and self-perceptions of members, positive affect, and belief that their day was meaningful and feeling they were committed to their recovery. A fourth hypothesis was that recovery community center visit days would have lower negative affect.
Results: The first three of these hypotheses were supported. Participants reported higher positive affect, meaningfulness, and levels of commitment to their recovery on days they visited recovery community centers. No differences in negative affect were found.
Project Focus Area(s)
Developmental Period(s)
Level(s) of Analysis
Penn State researchers collaborate with Pennsylvania recovery community centers to identify how the centers are successful in supporting long-term recovery from substance use. In this video, hear powerful stories from Lost Dreams Awakening, located in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.
The hope of recovery from substance misuse
An estimated 21.3 million adults in the United States self-identify as either being in recovery or recovered from problematic substance use. An estimated 5 million of the US adults in recovery depend on nonprofessional continuing recovery support services — such as sober housing and recovery community centers — to maintain their recoveries.
What are recovery community centers?
Recovery community centers are a relatively new part of the recovery support landscape. They support the needs of individuals in recovery and help them connect with peers with similar experiences. Committed to a peer-support model of recovery, recovery community centers are staffed by employees and volunteers, often include drop-in centers, and facilitate many services including mutual help groups, employment assistance, and recovery coaching.
Current evidence of effectiveness
Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies report favorable outcomes associated with recovery community center attendance, such as more recovery capital, reduced substance use and higher quality of life.
A collaboration between Penn State and recovery community centers
To determine if the effects of belonging to recovery community centers could be demonstrated by the day-to-day impact of attending a recovery center, we partnered with recovery community centers in Western Pennsylvania to design and run a smartphone data collection. One organization, Lost Dreams Awakening, helped guide us as we planned our study. Lost Dreams Awakening is a non-profit recovery community organization in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Its mission is to cultivate a culture of belonging, reduce harm, promote recovery through advocacy and education — as well as to demonstrate the power and proof of long-term recovery.
Through a series on online and in-person meetings with their staff and a few members who were very generous with their time, we developed a study designed to assess the daily challenges of maintaining recovery and how recovery community centers assist their members with these challenges. The full study collected data from 97 individuals across six recovery community centers in Western Pennsylvania.
Hypotheses: This study had several hypotheses related to the daily impact of attending recovery centers. Three hypotheses predicted members would report higher levels protective daily states and self-perceptions of members, positive affect, and belief that their day was meaningful and feeling they were committed to their recovery. A fourth hypothesis was that recovery community center visit days would have lower negative affect.
Results: The first three of these hypotheses were supported. Participants reported higher positive affect, meaningfulness, and levels of commitment to their recovery on days they visited recovery community centers. No differences in negative affect were found.
Project Focus Area(s)
Developmental Period(s)
Level(s) of Analysis
