TY - JOUR
T1 - Review of the application of positive psychology to substance use, addiction, and recovery research
AU - Krentzman, Amy R.
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - Advances in positive psychology have grown exponentially over the past decade. The addictions field has experienced its own growth in a positive direction, embodied by the recovery movement. Despite parallel developments, and great momentum on both sides, there has been little crosspollination. This article introduces positive psychology and the recovery movement, describes the research on positive psychology in the addictions, and discusses future avenues of theory, research, and intervention based on a positive-psychology framework. A systematic review of positive psychology applied to substance use, addiction, and recovery found nine studies which are discussed according to the following themes: theoretical propositions, character strengths and drinking, positive psychology and recovery, positive interventions, and addiction: feeling good and feeling bad. The current scholarship is scant, but diverse, covering a wide range of populations (adults, adolescents, those in and out of treatment), topics (character strengths, recovery, positive affect), and addictive behaviors (work addiction, cigarette smoking, and alcohol use disorders). There is diversity, too, in country of origin, with work originating in the U.S., U.K., Poland, and Spain. The rigorous application of the lens, tools, and approaches of positive psychology to addiction research generally, and to the aims of the recovery movement specifically, has potential for the development of theory and innovation in prevention and intervention. Further, because the work in positive psychology has primarily focused on microsystems, it may be primed to make contributions to the predominantly macrosystems focus of the recovery movement.
AB - Advances in positive psychology have grown exponentially over the past decade. The addictions field has experienced its own growth in a positive direction, embodied by the recovery movement. Despite parallel developments, and great momentum on both sides, there has been little crosspollination. This article introduces positive psychology and the recovery movement, describes the research on positive psychology in the addictions, and discusses future avenues of theory, research, and intervention based on a positive-psychology framework. A systematic review of positive psychology applied to substance use, addiction, and recovery found nine studies which are discussed according to the following themes: theoretical propositions, character strengths and drinking, positive psychology and recovery, positive interventions, and addiction: feeling good and feeling bad. The current scholarship is scant, but diverse, covering a wide range of populations (adults, adolescents, those in and out of treatment), topics (character strengths, recovery, positive affect), and addictive behaviors (work addiction, cigarette smoking, and alcohol use disorders). There is diversity, too, in country of origin, with work originating in the U.S., U.K., Poland, and Spain. The rigorous application of the lens, tools, and approaches of positive psychology to addiction research generally, and to the aims of the recovery movement specifically, has potential for the development of theory and innovation in prevention and intervention. Further, because the work in positive psychology has primarily focused on microsystems, it may be primed to make contributions to the predominantly macrosystems focus of the recovery movement.
KW - positive psychology
KW - recovery
KW - recovery movement
KW - review
KW - substance use disorders
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880318408&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84880318408&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/a0029897
DO - 10.1037/a0029897
M3 - Article
C2 - 22985057
AN - SCOPUS:84880318408
SN - 0893-164X
VL - 27
SP - 151
EP - 165
JO - Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
JF - Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
IS - 1
ER -