Using daily diary methods to understand how college students in recovery use social support

Abstract

Collegiate Recovery Communities (CRCs) are important sources of support for college students building and maintaining recovery from substance use disorders. The current study used daily diary data from members of a CRC to examine with which sources of social support students engaged daily, and whether students connected with these sources more on days when they indicated higher-than-usual recovery difficulty, negative affect, and/or school stress. Results indicate that on days when students reported having greater difficulty with recovery maintenance than usual, they had higher odds of being in contact with family members and were expected to talk or spend time with family for longer than usual. Students also had higher odds of having recovery-focused conversations with both 12-step sponsors and CRC peers on days of greater-than-usual recovery maintenance difficulty. Recovery maintenance difficulty was uniquely associated with longer duration of family contact, above and beyond negative affect and school stress. Thus, the occurrence, amount, and nature of CRC members' interactions with important social network members varied in relation to perceived recovery challenges that same day. Findings highlight the importance of providing college students with multiple sources of support that they can use to maintain their recoveries despite daily challenges.

Keywords: Collegiate Recovery Communities; Daily diary; Social support; Substance use recovery.