tests that yield estimates of the proportion of the direct effect of AA on drinking outcomes that is accounted for by each of these four purported mechanisms. We hypothesize that more frequent AA attendance will be associated with more abstinence and less intense alcohol use. Also, greater AA attendance will be associated with decreased involvement with high-risk social network ties (i.e., those individuals that condone or support alcohol use), increased involvement with low risk social network ties (i.e., individuals supportive of abstinence), increased engagement in abstinent-related activities, and decreased engagement in drinking-related activities. We also investigate whether AA's ability to adaptively influence these social network variables depends on the starting (study intake) level of that variable (e.g., does AA's ability to effectively reduce pro-drinking influences depend on the extent of those pro-drinking influences at study intake). Finally, we predict that recovery-supportive changes among these four social processes will be associated with positive outcomes, and that the effect of AA on subsequent alcohol use, will be partially mediated by these processes.
