An Evaluation of Sober Living Houses

Sober Living Houses are alcohol and drug free residences for individuals attempting to establish or maintain sobriety. Although they do not offer formal treatment, some individuals enter them after completing residential treatment or while engaged in outpatient treatment. Most sober houses require attendance at AA and compliance with basic house rules, such as abstinence from alcohol and drugs and paying rent on time. This repeated measures study assess 300 individuals residing in 18 different sober living houses at intake, 6 months, one year and 18 months. The primary outcome measure is the Addiction Severity Index. The 300 sober living residents are compared to a sample of 60 clients participating in a residential treatment program. Additional comparisons among subgroups within the sober living houses include residents referred from the criminal justice system, outpatient programs, and inpatient programs. In addition, the study examines predictors of outcome, such as psychiatric severity, time in the residence, use of auxiliary health and social services, ratio of auxiliary services residents say the desire versus what they get, characteristics of social support systems, and frequency and quantity of reported confrontation they receive about the dangers associated with substance use.