Emma M Schweitzer, Adelya Urmanche, Julia Kong, Sahar Hafezi, Joshua Zhao, Nina A Cooperman, Anna B Konova
{"title":"The role of social connection in opioid use disorder treatment engagement.","authors":"Emma M Schweitzer, Adelya Urmanche, Julia Kong, Sahar Hafezi, Joshua Zhao, Nina A Cooperman, Anna B Konova","doi":"10.1037/adb0000934","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Medications for opioid use disorder (OUD or MOUD) treatment combining pharmacotherapy with psychosocial support are effective for managing OUD. However, treatment engagement remains a challenge, with retention rates ∼30%-50%. Although social connection has been identified as important to recovery, it remains unclear whether and how social factors can bolster participation in treatment.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Individuals receiving MOUD at three outpatient treatment programs (<i>N</i> = 82) and healthy community controls (<i>N</i> = 62) completed validated measures assessing social connection including (a) size, diversity, and embeddedness of social networks; (b) perceived social support and criticism within familial relationships; and (c) subjective social status. For those receiving MOUD, we also examined how aspects of social connection related to opioid (re)use and treatment engagement (medication adherence, group, and individual meeting attendance) assessed over ∼8 weeks/person.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared to controls, individuals receiving MOUD had smaller and less diverse and embedded social networks (Cohen's <i>d</i> > 0.4), and despite similar levels of perceived social support (<i>d</i> = 0.02), reported higher levels of social criticism (<i>d</i> = 0.6) and lower subjective social status (<i>d</i> = 0.5). Within the MOUD group, higher social network indices correlated specifically with higher therapeutic group attendance (<i>R</i>s > 0.30), but not medication adherence, while higher levels of perceived criticism correlated with more frequent opioid use (<i>R</i> = 0.23). Results were mostly robust to control for sociodemographic variables, psychological distress/COVID-19, and treatment duration, but differed by MOUD type/program.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings highlight the potential importance of assessing an individual's social capital, promoting positive social connection, and continuing to assess the implementation and value of psychosocial support in MOUD treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48325,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Addictive Behaviors","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10755080/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychology of Addictive Behaviors","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000934","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/6/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Medications for opioid use disorder (OUD or MOUD) treatment combining pharmacotherapy with psychosocial support are effective for managing OUD. However, treatment engagement remains a challenge, with retention rates ∼30%-50%. Although social connection has been identified as important to recovery, it remains unclear whether and how social factors can bolster participation in treatment.
Method: Individuals receiving MOUD at three outpatient treatment programs (N = 82) and healthy community controls (N = 62) completed validated measures assessing social connection including (a) size, diversity, and embeddedness of social networks; (b) perceived social support and criticism within familial relationships; and (c) subjective social status. For those receiving MOUD, we also examined how aspects of social connection related to opioid (re)use and treatment engagement (medication adherence, group, and individual meeting attendance) assessed over ∼8 weeks/person.
Results: Compared to controls, individuals receiving MOUD had smaller and less diverse and embedded social networks (Cohen's d > 0.4), and despite similar levels of perceived social support (d = 0.02), reported higher levels of social criticism (d = 0.6) and lower subjective social status (d = 0.5). Within the MOUD group, higher social network indices correlated specifically with higher therapeutic group attendance (Rs > 0.30), but not medication adherence, while higher levels of perceived criticism correlated with more frequent opioid use (R = 0.23). Results were mostly robust to control for sociodemographic variables, psychological distress/COVID-19, and treatment duration, but differed by MOUD type/program.
Conclusions: These findings highlight the potential importance of assessing an individual's social capital, promoting positive social connection, and continuing to assess the implementation and value of psychosocial support in MOUD treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors publishes peer-reviewed original articles related to the psychological aspects of addictive behaviors. The journal includes articles on the following topics: - alcohol and alcoholism - drug use and abuse - eating disorders - smoking and nicotine addiction, and other excessive behaviors (e.g., gambling) Full-length research reports, literature reviews, brief reports, and comments are published.