Table of Contents
| Category | Detail |
| Background: | Giving, helping, volunteering, being of service, unselfishness, and goodwill are common human behaviors. These altruistic acts, performed without expectation of external reward, provide benefits to the helper, such as lower disciplinary problems in youths, better values, educational improvement, greater happiness, life satisfaction, better social functioning, decreased depression and anxiety, and better mental health in adults. Older adults experience positive affect, self-esteem, social integration, and increased longevity through volunteering and providing support. Research is investigating sobriety benefits for alcoholic helpers, considering the helping activities crucial to recovery. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded on prosocial behavior, emphasizing staying sober and helping other alcoholics. AA literature identifies self-centeredness as the alcoholic’s main problem, emphasizing the importance of service. Studies have linked AA-related helping (AAH) with improved drinking outcomes, with sponsorship and practice of the 12th Step being reliable predictors of better outcomes. Sponsorship is associated with increased odds of abstinence. Research on long-term sobriety found AAH increases linearly over time. There is a lack of consensus in defining helping, with variations in what constitutes AAH, such as emotional, instrumental support, or active giving versus receptiveness, and the setting of help (interpersonal or solitary). Measurement strategies of AAH vary, including beliefs about the impact of helping, helping behaviors, time spent helping, and frequency of specific behaviors. Measurement times also varied in treatment and longitudinal periods with varying lengths and a lack of demonstrated psychometric rigor. There are issues with how respondents may interpret the 12th step, since it includes a spiritual awakening, carrying a message to other alcoholics and practicing AA principles. Limiting AAH to help given by sponsors neglects those in early recovery. There is a need for a validated assessment tool for AAH. The concept of ‘service to others’ was based on AA literature, altruism literature, and focus groups with AA members. Service-oriented behaviors include kindness and consideration of others, with voluntary, intentional help that benefits others as the primary goal. |
| Primary use / Purpose: | Alcoholics Anonymous participation has been measured in addiction research, but few validated tools distinguish components of this multidimensional construct. Service to Others in Sobriety is a brief assessment of AA-related helping. It is a valid measure of AA-related helping activities pertinent to the daily lives of recovering alcoholics and provides reliable data on the role of service, altruism, and helping others during recovery. |
| Psychometrics: | Service to others within 12-Step contexts was assessed with the 12-item SOS. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale from 1 (rarely) to 5 (always) with reference to the prior month. SOS items reflect acts of good citizenship as a member of a 12-step program (i.e., putting away chairs at meetings, donating money), formal service positions available in 12-step programs of recovery (i.e., donating money, public outreach, etc.), and AAH activities involving the transmission of one’s personal experience to another (i.e., sharing one’s personal story with another alcoholic, sharing progress with step-work). Prior work with SOS items among a small sample of alcoholics has shown adequate internal consistency (alpha D .82) and feasibility (fewer than 10 minutes to complete;Pagano, Zeltner, et al., 2009). Psychometric analyses with the SOS included item analysis, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, convergent validity, and receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis. Internal consistency was determined by calculating Cronbach’s alpha. Test–retest reliability was determined by comparing two administrations of the SOS using the Spearman rank-order correlation, a nonparametric measure of association based on the rank of the data values. For convergent validity and outcome analysis, the SOS was compared to the PSB, HSNS, and length of time sober using nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis chi-square tests. To identify the optimal cutoff score for the SOS, an ROC curve was constructed based on the SOS’s performance compared with the 2-item AAI criterion of AAH. For the purposes of interpretation, Cohen (1988) considers r D 0.10 ‘‘small,’’ r D 0.30 ‘‘medium,’’ and r D 0.50 ‘‘large.’’ All tests were double-sided, and partial-Bonferroni of p < .01 was used to avoid inflating the risk of Type 1 error. With regards to internal consistency, the Cronbach’s alpha for the SOS total score was 0.92, and ranged from 0.74 to 0.77 for individual SOS items. Test–retest item comparisons found large effect size correlations between administrations for all SOS items (rs D .60–.96). The Spearman rank-order correlation was 0.94 (p < .001) between the first and second administration of the SOS total score. The Spearman correlation was 0.62 (p < .001) between the SOS total score and other-oriented empathy PSB subscale. A trend emerged between the SOS total score and helpfulness PSB subscale (r D 0.33, p D 0.07). A cutoff score of 45 or higher was found to provide the highest average of sensitivity and specificity (SN D .78, SP D .64), the highest phi coefficient (phi D .50), and the highest degree of concordance (k D 54). |
| Author of Tool: | Maria E. Pagano, Amy R. Krentzman, Casey C. Onder, Justina L. Baryak, Jennifer L. Murphy, William H. Zywiak, Robert L. Stout |
| Web link to tool: | Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS) |
| Files: | SOS Instrument |
| Key references: | Pagano, M.E., Krentzman, A.R., Onder, C.C., Baryak, J.L., Murphy, J.L., Zywiak, W.H., & Stout, R.L. (in press). Assessment of service to others in sobriety (SOS). Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly. Pagano, M. E., Zeltner, B., Post, S., Jaber, J., Zywiak, W. H., & Stout, R. L. (2009). Who should I help to stay sober?: Helping behaviors among alcoholics who maintain long-term sobriety. Alcohol Treatment Quarterly, 27(1), 38-50. Tonigan, J. S., Connors, G. J., Miller, W.R. (2003). Participation and involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous. In T. F. Babor & F. K. Del Boca (Eds.), Treatment Matching in Alcoholism (pp. 184-204). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. |
Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS)
Please rate the following items on a scale from 1 to 5: 1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, and 5 = always
If the item does not apply to you, please give a response of 1 (never) to the question.
How often in the past month…
1. Took calls or spent time with a sponsee?__________
2. Guided an alcoholic/addict through the 12-Steps? __________
3. Held a service position in a 12-Step program? __________
4. Say something positive to an alcoholic/addict? __________
5. Listened to an alcoholic/addict? __________
6. Say hello to a newcomer? __________
7. Reached out to an alcoholic/addict having a hard time? __________
8. Shared personal story with an alcoholic/addict? __________
9. Read program literature to an alcoholic/addict? __________
10. Encourage an alcoholic/addict to go to a meeting? __________
11. Donated money to AA/NA? __________
12. Put away chairs after a meeting? __________
13. Overall in the past month, how much did helping other alcoholics help you to not drink or use drugs?
__________not at all __________a little __________some __________a lot
Cite this article
mohammad looti (2026). Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/service-to-others-in-sobriety-sos/
mohammad looti. "Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 31 Mar. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/service-to-others-in-sobriety-sos/.
mohammad looti. "Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/service-to-others-in-sobriety-sos/.
mohammad looti (2026) 'Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS)', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/service-to-others-in-sobriety-sos/.
[1] mohammad looti, "Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS)," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, March, 2026.
mohammad looti. Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.