Psychometric Properties of the Recovery Home Environment Scale.
BACKGROUND
Recovery homes for persons with alcohol and drug problems provide an abstinent living environment and social support for recovery. Research shows residents in these homes make significant, sustained improvements. However, descriptions of recovery environments within the homes have been limited.


PURPOSE
The current study assessed psychometric properties for the Recovery Home Environment Scale (RHES), which assessed social environments within one type of recovery home, sober living houses (SLHs).


METHODS
373 residents were interviewed at entry into the house, 1-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. Measures included the RHES, other measures of the social environment, days of substance use, and length of stay.


RESULTS
Principal components analysis suggested the RHES was largely unidimensional. Exploratory factor analysis suggested items could be grouped into recovery support (3 items) and recovery skills (5 items). Cronbach's alphas for the full scale and the recovery support and recovery skills subscales were 0.91, 0.89, and 0.87, respectively. As hypothesized, construct validity of the RHES was supported by correlations with other measures of the social environment and predictive validity was supported by associations with length of stay and substance use.


CONCLUSIONS
SLHs have been described as "the setting is the service." However, the field has lacked a way to capture characteristics of the social environment. The RHES represents a new way to measure the recovery environment by focusing on social interactions among residents within SLHs and shared activities in the community.
['Polcin|Douglas L|DL|', 'Mahoney|Elizabeth|E|', 'Mericle|Amy A|AA|']
D000437:Alcoholism D006801:Humans D011594:Psychometrics D012931:Social Environment D012944:Social Support D019966:Substance-Related Disorders
Recovery home social support sober living house factor analysis peer support social model