Funded Projects

NOFO Title: Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: PA-18-591

NOFO Title: Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: PA-18-591
Summary:

There is a great deal of research aimed at better understanding transitions in alcohol and other drug (AOD) use patterns from early to late adolescence and from late adolescence to emerging adulthood. However, no studies to date have (a) assessments of AOD use from ages 10 to 24 across all developmental periods (middle school, high school, and emerging adulthood); (b) a large sample with substantial racial and ethnic diversity, particularly among Hispanic and Asian youth; (c) in-depth coverage of 10 areas of functioning across three key domains; (d) subjective and objective neighborhood data; or (e) the capacity to examine developmental trajectories for more than one substance. The current proposal is a continuation of previous projects that assessed AOD use across nine waves of data from age 10 to age 19. The proposed study capitalizes on the longitudinal data on protective and risk factors we have collected since age 10 in an ethnically diverse cohort by continuing to annually assess these youth in order to capture important transitions to emerging adulthood (through age 24). By advancing the epidemiology of alcohol use during adolescence and emerging adulthood, our findings can affect prevention and intervention programming for young people and address critical issues of public health policy.

NOFO Title: Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: PA-18-591

NOFO Title: Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: PA-18-591
Summary:

Current rates of prescription opioid misuse are rising to epidemic levels among adults. These rates may be even higher among adolescents and young adults (AYAs), who have elevated levels of substance exploration and misuse during this precise developmental period. AYAs who are exposed to opioids via legitimate prescriptions by age 18 are at increased risk for misuse after high school. However, there is a substantial gap in our knowledge of what factors might contribute to the development of misuse and related poor outcomes in these high-risk youth. Identifying factors that convey risk for increasing opioid use and problematic use would inform AYA models of opioid abuse and inform the development of preventive interventions to modify risk in medical settings, which are a unique point of entry into opioid use, and a key setting in which to examine AYA outcomes. We will use a developmental model of the impact of opioid exposure by legitimate prescription during late adolescence, with consideration for pain and psychological characteristics of the individual within the psychosocial (family, peer, educational and work context). Determining mechanisms and moderators of risk during this developmental transition will provide critical information for the design of interventions aimed at reducing opioid use disorders in at-risk AYA.

NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Preventing Opioid Use Disorder in Older Adolescents and Young Adults (ages 16–30) (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-035
Summary:

Many states across the country have experienced an increase in children involved in the foster care system because of young parental opioid and methamphetamine use disorders (OUD; MUD). The Families Actively Improving Relationships (FAIR) program is a recently developed, rigorously evaluated, intensive outpatient treatment program for parents involved in the child welfare system for parental OUD and/or MUD. The FAIR effectiveness trial showed the potential for FAIR to be adapted as a prevention program, and to be implemented in counties with low service availability and access. This project will adapt and implement FAIR for prevention in collaboration with Oregon State Department of Human Services (DHS). Across two counties, parents referred by DHS for OUD or MUD with risk for escalation will be recruited and randomized to receive the adapted FAIR as prevention, or standard case management and referral. Outcomes will inform further FAIR refinement and potential broader scale-up.

NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Coordinating Center to Support NIDA Preventing Opioid Use Disorder in Older Adolescents and Young Adults (ages 16–30) Initiative (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-034
Summary:

The Coordinating Center (CC) will provide centralized logistical support and facilitate communication and coordination of activities across the cooperative. The CC will provide scientific leadership, which will include providing scientific expertise in the areas of implementation research and economic evaluation. The CC will establish an infrastructure for cross-site data collection, management, harmonization, and data sharing and provide expert methodological and statistical consultation.

NOFO Title: NIDA Research Center of Excellence Grant Program (P50)
NOFO Number: PAR-16-009
Summary:

The U.S. is in the midst of an opioid crisis, and efforts to tackle the complex and dynamic nature of this public health challenge must comprehensively consider a multitude of contributing factors. In response, states have implemented a wide range of policies and initiatives. However, the dynamic nature of the crisis and the speed with which different policy approaches are being implemented pose numerous challenges for researchers evaluating the effects of such efforts. These challenges stem in part from limited information regarding policy implementation; insufficient information about policy characteristics that may influence effectiveness; little consideration of how the chosen analytic method may influence findings, given simultaneous or concurrent implementation of multiple policies; and limited training on how to best communicate findings to policymakers. To address these challenges, the proposed Center for Opioid Policy Research (COPR) will serve as a national resource, fostering innovative and high-quality research in the opioid policy arena and developing and disseminating methods, tools and information to the research community, policymakers and the public.

NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Preventing Opioid Use Disorder in Older Adolescents and Young Adults (ages 16–30) (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-035
Summary:

Data from 2015 show that American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) have the highest rates of diagnosis for opioid use disorder (OUD) and death from drug overdose. Of particular concern is the prevalence in emerging adults (ages 18-25), as this is a developmental period of heightened vulnerability and critical social, neurological, and psychological development. This study will develop and implement a culturally centered intervention to address opioid misuse among urban AI/AN emerging adults in California: POMANAYA (Preventing Opioid Misuse Among Native American Young Adults). POMANAYA will developed by adapting and enhancing our existing culturally sensitive prevention intervention program that uses motivational interviewing in AI/AN youth to address social network factors in emerging adults that amplify (or reduce) opioid and other drug use risk. Results from this study could significantly advance scientific knowledge and clinical practice for AI/AN emerging adults.

NOFO Title: Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: PA-18-591

NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Preventing Opioid Use Disorder in Older Adolescents and Young Adults (ages 16–30) (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-035
Summary:

Most opioid misuse begins during adolescence and young adulthood. Adolescence is the best time for prevention interventions in settings like school-based health centers (HCs), yet few programs focus on preventing initiation of opioid misuse. This study harnesses the power of video game interventions and incorporates components of effective substance use prevention programs to develop an evidence-informed intervention to prevent the initiation of opioid misuse in adolescents. In partnership with the national School-Based Health Alliance (SBHA), researchers will develop and test a new video game intervention, PlaySmart. It will build on our previous video game intervention that has demonstrated efficacy in improving attitudes and knowledge related to risk behaviors. The study will evaluate the game in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in 10 school-based HCs and examine strategies for implementing PlaySmart in school-based HCs nationally. This research has considerable potential for wide implementation, reach, and impact on high-risk adolescents through school-based HCs.

NOFO Title: Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: PA-18-591
Summary:

Justice-involved young adults are one of the highest-risk populations for the development of opioid use disorder (OUD) and other significant public health problems, but they usually lack access to evidence-based practices that could potentially prevent this trajectory. The risk of unintentional death and other deleterious outcomes and long-term costs for opioid misuse for young adults, their communities and society (costs estimated at more than $115 billion annually) make this a priority, with rural areas in need of the most attention and assistance. The overriding purpose of the proposed pilot study is to prevent the onset of OUD by improving young adult offenders’ access to evidence-based risk reduction interventions, like contingency management (CM), by testing whether officers in the adult probation and parole setting can deliver such an intervention to their young adult substance using probationers who have not yet developed OUD. The primary motivation for this pilot is the clear public health need for improving and expanding delivery of substance use risk reduction interventions for young adults in the justice system. The ultimate outcome would be prevention of OUD in this high-risk population.