Date

7-21-2026

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Sharon Farrell

Keywords

addiction recovery, mental health, collegiate substance use

Disciplines

Educational Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand how addiction recovery shapes college students' motivation to learn at Haven University, an institution in the South Atlantic region of the United States. The central phenomenon of motivation was generally defined as the internal drive that propels an individual towards achieving a goal or fulfilling a desire, such as overcoming addiction or pursuing academic learning. The theory guiding this study was Maslow's hierarchy of human motivation. This theory was instrumental in understanding the psychological factors that influenced college students' motivations for addiction recovery or learning and elucidated ways to integrate substance use disorder (SUD) recovery capital into university frameworks. The central research question was: How do the experiences of United States college students’ addiction recovery shape their motivation to learn? A transcendental phenomenological study explored the phenomenon of motivation by posing in-depth questions about experience, meaning, and perspective. The sample pool was individuals in addiction recovery with sustained enrollment at a college or university. The sample size was 12 participants. The sampling types were purposive convenience sampling and criterion-based snowball sampling. Data analysis and synthesis involved a 10-step process, including bracketing, manual transcription, coding, theme development, textual description, structural interpretation, synthesis, phenomenological reduction, validation, and reporting. Results included themes of Recovery and Personal Transformation, Purpose-Driven Engagement, as well as Relational and Spiritual support.

Download

Share

COinS