The Assessment of Recovery Capital: Properties and psychometrics of a measure of addiction recovery strengths

Plain-Language Summary

This study was all about creating a tool that helps us measure a person’s strengths and resources in recovery, known as Recovery Capital. While the idea of Recovery Capital has been around for a while, no one had yet created a solid way to actually measure it in practice. Most tools in addiction care focus on what’s wrong, like symptoms, risk, or relapse. But this project aimed to measure what’s strong: the support, skills, and community resources that help someone stay on track and thrive in recovery. The final tool, called the Assessment of Recovery Capital (ARC), turned out to be: Easy to use, Consistent over time (reliable), Effective at reflecting real-world strengths (valid). It worked as a single overall measure of Recovery Capital.