Correction to: Belief, Behavior, and Belonging: How Faith is Indispensable in Preventing and Recovering from Substance Abuse.

The original publication of this article (Grim and Grim 2019) contained the old name for a Department of Health and Human Services' Center above the section "Faith's Relationship with Substance Abuse in General".

Belief, Behavior, and Belonging: How Faith is Indispensable in Preventing and Recovering from Substance Abuse.

This study reviews the voluminous empirical evidence on faith's contribution to preventing people from falling victim to substance abuse and helping them recover from it. We find that 73% of addiction treatment programs in the USA include a spirituality-based element, as embodied in the 12-step programs and fellowships initially popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous, the vast majority of which emphasize reliance on God or a Higher Power to stay sober. We introduce and flesh out a typology of faith-based substance abuse treatment facilities, recovery programs, and support groups. This typology provides important background as we then move on to make an economic valuation of nearly 130,000 congregation-based substance abuse recovery support programs in the USA. We find that these faith-based volunteer support groups contribute up to $316.6 billion in savings to the US economy every year at no cost to tax payers. While negative experiences with religion (e.g., clergy sex abuse and other horrendous examples) have been a contributory factor to substance abuse among some victims, given that more than 84% of scientific studies show that faith is a positive factor in addiction prevention or recovery and a risk in less than 2% of the studies reviewed, we conclude that the value of faith-oriented approaches to substance abuse prevention and recovery is indisputable. And, by extension, we also conclude that the decline in religious affiliation in the USA is not only a concern for religious organizations but constitutes a national health concern.

Impact evaluation of a pilot web-based intervention to increase physical activity.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study was to conduct an impact evaluation of a 10-week Web-based physical activity intervention. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental, three-group pretest, posttest design. SETTING: Large Midwestern university. SUBJECTS: Participants (N = 233) included college students registered for three courses. The study employed a convenience sample consisting of a Web-based group (n = 108), a physical activity group (n = 64), and a general health group (n = 61). INTERVENTION: The Web-based group received a Social Cognitive Theory behavioral skill-building intervention and exercised 3 days per week in their leisure time. The physical activity group received exercise instruction and was required to attend three physical activity labs per week. The comparison group received health instruction. MEASURES: Outcome variables included moderate and vigorous physical activity, self-regulation, social support, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations and expectancies. ANALYSIS: Differences between groups were assessed at pretest and posttest using multiple analyses of variance. RESULTS: Vigorous physical activity, self-regulation, and outcome expectancy value changed significantly in the Web-based and physical activity course groups (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Even with consideration of limitations such as small sample size and lack of randomization, the Web-based and traditional physical activity lecture and activity lab interventions were superior in eliciting changes in vigorous physical activity, self-regulation, and outcome expectancy value than a traditional health course.