Social Functioning in Opioid Use Disorder

Launched by MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · Jun 23, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how social relationships and interactions affect people with opioid use disorder (OUD), a condition where someone struggles with using opioids like prescription painkillers or heroin. The study aims to understand which parts of social functioning can be changed to help improve treatment outcomes for OUD. To do this, researchers will gather information not only from people with OUD but also from someone close to them, like a family member or friend, to see how their social connections relate to recovery. The goal is to use these findings to create better, personalized treatments for those living with OUD.

People who might join this study are adults aged 18 or older who have been diagnosed with OUD within the past year and are currently taking the medication buprenorphine (used to treat opioid dependence) for no more than four weeks. Participants should also have someone close to them willing to take part in the study. The study does not include people with severe withdrawal symptoms, serious mental health conditions like psychosis or bipolar disorder, or recent severe relationship violence. Pregnant individuals, prisoners, and children are also not eligible. Participants can expect to provide information about their social life and treatment progress, which will help researchers better understand how social support affects recovery from opioid use disorder.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Any sex or gender; any race or ethnicity; aged 18 years or older
• • Patient participants must meet DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for current (i.e., past 12 months) OUD (assessed via the Quick Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5; Quick SCID)
• • Patient participants must be on buprenorphine, as prescribed by their provider, for no more than 4 weeks prior to study initiation
• • Concurrent substance use disorders (e.g., alcohol, cannabis) for the patient participant are acceptable, provided opioids are the patient participant's primary substance of choice
• • If taking psychotropic medications (excluding buprenorphine), maintenance on a stable dose for at least 4 weeks before study initiation; this is because initiation or change of psychotropic medications (e.g., SSRIs) during the study may interfere with interpretation of results
• • Patient participants must identify a CSO participant who consents to participation in the study as well
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Moderate-to-severe opioid withdrawal as defined by a score of ≥13 on the Clinical Opioid Withdrawal Scale
• • Meeting DSM-5 criteria for a history of or current psychotic or bipolar disorders
• • Current suicidal or homicidal ideation and intent; participants who present a serious suicide risk are likely to require hospitalization during the study and they will be referred clinically
• • CSO participants meeting DSM-5 criteria for opioid use disorder or any other substance use disorder, excepting tobacco use disorder
• • Severe interpersonal violence in the past six months between the patient and the CSO, as defined by an adapted version of the Conflict Tactics Scaled Revised (CTS-2)
• • Pregnancy for patient participants
• • Prisoners, institutional individuals, and children will not be recruited for this study.