Date Approved

5-23-2023

Embargo Period

5-24-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. Clinical Psychology

Department

Psychology

College

College of Science & Mathematics

Advisor

Bethany Raiff, Ph.D.

Committee Member 1

Tom Dinzeo, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

Katherine Gotham, Ph.D.

Keywords

opioid addiction treatment, contingency management, mood

Subject(s)

Opioid abuse; Patients--Psychology

Disciplines

Psychiatry and Psychology

Abstract

Opioid use results in potentially devastating consequences, but medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine, serve as effective ways to curb cravings and withdrawal, helping an individual reduce their use. Unfortunately, around half of patients discontinue buprenorphine treatment within 30 days and co-occurring conditions such as mood symptoms may serve as additional barriers and decrease engagement. This study sought to examine contingency management (CM; incentives for meeting behavioral goals) as a potential intervention to increase early treatment engagement, as well as the role of total depression, anxiety, and stress (mood) severity in the efficacy of contingency management. New patients with opioid use disorder (n = 47) were recruited from an outpatient opioid clinic and were randomized to receive either treatment as usual (TAU), which consisted of routine clinic care, or CM, which consisted of routine clinic care with a $50 incentive for attending their first follow-up visit. The CM group was almost three times as likely to attend their follow-up appointment as the TAU group, and mood symptom severity did not appear to impact CM efficacy. This study supports CM as a potential way to increase early treatment engagement for patients with a range of mood symptom severity, making recovery more likely and improving quality of life.

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