RESOLUTION OF ALCOHOL-PROBLEMS WITHOUT TREATMENT - METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES AND FUTURE-DIRECTIONS OF NATURAL RECOVERY RESEARCH

Natural recovery appears to be the major path to recovery from alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Studies of this phenomenon have implications fo r designing formal treatments, self-change strategies, and preventive interventions, and for contributing to current knowledge of the course of AUDs. The research conducted to date is limited by a number of imp ortant methodological issues associated with sampling, diagnostic crit eria, and research design. Furthermore, previous research has failed t o consider a number of sociocultural, developmental, and individual di fference variables that clinical and epidemiological literature have e stablished as influential to the course of AUDs. This article critical ly reviews the existing natural recovery literature and elaborates on areas of interest that have been neglected by previous natural recover y researchers.