Date of Completion

2020

Thesis Type

College of Arts and Science Honors

Department

Neuroscience

First Advisor

Dr. Bryan Ballif

Second Advisor

Dr. Timothy Plante

Third Advisor

Dr. Abigail Crocker

Keywords

Vermont Recovery Network, Substance Use Disorder, Quality of Life, Recovery Capital, Turning Point Centers, Peer Recovery Network

Abstract

Background

In 2019, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found that 19.3 million people 18 or older were struggling with a substance use disorder in the United States1. While there are many models of substance use disorder treatment, community peer recovery centers have become more widespread2. Vermont has one of the leading recovery center networks in the country, made up of 12 recovery centers called Turning Point Centers (TPCs)3. This study utilized archived TPC Participant Surveys to evaluate the risk of high quality of life (QoL) with increasing recovery capital, as measured by the Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital (BARC-10)4,5. Our second objective was to assess the utilization of TPCs resources across BARC-10 total score quartiles.

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that higher scores of BARC-10 will impact QoL positively, and that there will be an association between utilization of services and higher total scores on the BARC-10.

Methods

We used the Vermont Recovery Network’s Participant Surveys, including all participants over the age of 18 and excluding surveys missing QoL. We utilized a modified Poisson regression to estimate risk of high QoL for each 1 point higher total BARC-10 score6. Our second analysis use descriptive statistics to assess the associations between utilization of TPC services and level of BARC-10 total score.

Results

Of the 1,272 participant completed surveys, we excluded 48, leaving 1,224 in this analysis. In the study population of 1,224, 69% of people (884) reported high QoL.

Our first analysis showed the risk of having high QoL was 5.6% higher for every one-point higher in BARC-10 total score in our fully adjusted model (95% CI 1.047 to 1.064). Our second analysis found there was a significantly higher number of reported total service categories utilized in higher quartiles of BARC-10 total score.

Conclusions

In a cross-sectional analysis of adults with substance use disorder utilizing Vermont’s TPCs who completed surveys capturing QoL, a validated recovery capital metric, and service pattern use, the risk of high QoL was greater among participants with higher recovery capital. This study prompts further investigation into the causal relationship between TPC service use and recovery capital, specifically on what types of TPC services are most effective for the Vermont recovery community.

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