Helping young adults reduce combined alcohol and opioid use with a smartphone app
Targeting Alcohol-Opioid Co-Use Among Young Adults Using a Novel MHealth Intervention
This project uses a smartphone program to help young adults with opioid use disorder who also drink alcohol cut down on using both substances together.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brown University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11137773 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would use a smartphone app that asks brief surveys many times a day to track when and why you use alcohol and opioids. The team will use those moment-by-moment reports to build an adaptive app that sends personalized messages and coping tools when you are at higher risk. They will pilot the app with about 60 young adults (ages 18-25) who have mild to moderate opioid use disorder and report regular alcohol-opioid co-use. The goal is to create a low-burden, widely available way to reach young people who are not currently in treatment.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are young adults aged 18–25 with mild to moderate opioid use disorder who regularly use alcohol and opioids and can use a smartphone.
Not a fit: People with severe opioid use disorder, older adults, or those without access to a smartphone may not benefit from this mHealth-focused program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could reduce episodes of combined drinking and opioid use and lower overdose and other harm risk for young adults.
How similar studies have performed: Smartphone-based programs have shown promise for reducing substance use in young adults, but targeting alcohol-opioid co-use together is a novel approach that has not been widely tested.
Where this research is happening
Providence, United States
- Brown University — Providence, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Miranda, Robert — Brown University
- Study coordinator: Miranda, Robert
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.