Self-Initiated Helping Behaviors and Recovery in Severe XXXX : Implications for Work, Volunteerism, and Peer Support.

@entity1 @entity73 @entity1032 @entity161
OBJECTIVE: Despite recent interest in peer support workers in recovery-oriented services, little is known about how helping behaviors may affect recovery from severe @entity1032 outside of formal peer support roles. The current study is a mixed-methods approach to understanding naturalistic helping behaviors and their relationship with recovery outcomes among @entity1 with serious @entity1032 . METHODS: Forty-six @entity1 with @entity161 -spectrum disorders completed a narrative interview and standardized measures of recovery, symptoms, hope, @entity1 activation, quality of life, medication adherence, insight, and illness management. Interviews were coded using emergent, thematic analysis. The study compared individuals who (unprompted) mentioned helping behaviors in their interview to those who did not on recovery-related outcomes. RESULTS: Sixteen @entity1 narratives (35%) described self-initiated helping behaviors. Themes included a desire to tell others their story, teach others recovery-promoting skills, become a peer support worker, give back to society, and be more active family members. Those who discussed helping others in narrative interviews scored significantly higher on measures of recovery, illness management, @entity1 activation, hope, quality of life, medication adherence, and insight and scored significantly lower on measures of overall symptoms, as well as negative, positive, and @entity73 , than did those who did not discuss helping behaviors. The groups did not differ on hostility or emotional discomfort symptoms. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Findings indicate associations between helping others and improved scores on measures of recovery outcomes. Potential implications include focusing on meaningful work/volunteerism and expanding roles for peer support in recovery-oriented services. (PsycINFO Database Record
