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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Alcohol Treat Q. 2010 Apr 1;28(2):111–127. doi: 10.1080/07347321003656425

Table 1.

Service to Others in Sobriety (SOS) Item Responses: Frequency, Internal Consistency, and Stability

SOS Item a Frequency Internal
Consistencyg
Test-Retest
Reliabilityh

Median Mean (SD) % Lowf
1. Took calls or spent time with a sponsee 1.00 2.03 (1.36) 66% .76*** .88***
2. Guided an alcoholic/addict through the 12-Steps 1.50 2.06 (1.19) 59% .76*** .84***
3. Held a service position in a 12-Step programb 2.00 2.56 (1.70) 53% .75*** .96***
4. Say something positive to an alcoholic/addict 4.00 3.56 (1.54) 25% .74*** .91***
5. Listened to an alcoholic/addictd 4.00 3.22 (1.43) 28% .75*** .82***
6. Say hello to a newcomer 3.00 3.19 (1.45) 28% .74*** .88***
7. Reached out to an alcoholic/addict having a hard time 3.50 3.06 (1.50) 38% .74*** .86***
8. Shared personal story with an alcoholic/addict 3.00 2.88 (1.31) 31% .75*** .90***
9. Read program literature to an alcoholic/addicte 3.00 2.67 (1.33) 31% .75*** .88***
10. Encourage an alcoholic/addict to go to a meeting 4.00 3.90 (1.39) 19% .75*** .91***
11. Donated money to AA/NAc 4.00 3.84 (1.46) 25% .77** .60**
12. Put away chairs after a meeting 4.00 4.00 (1.16) 9% .77*** .75***

  SOS Total Score 15.00 14.34 (6.97) -- .92*** .94**
*

p<.05

**

p<.01

***

p<.001

NOTES:

a

Items are rated as “never (1)”, “rarely (2)”, “sometimes (3)”, “often (4)”, or “always (5)”

b

Service positions at meetings include: coffee maker, door greeter, chairperson, secretary, treasurer.

Service positions outside of meetings include: service delegate, public outreach organizer (i.e. jails, etc.), literature delegate.

c

12-Step programs are self supporting through members’ contributions at meetings or local service centers.

d

Listening qualified as at least 10 minutes of uninterrupted listening

e

Literature can be read at meetings (the promises, the steps, etc.) or directly when working with another alcoholic/addict.

f

Low = SOS items endorsed “never” or “rarely”

g

Cronbach’s alpha (raw)

h

Spearman Rank-Order Correlation