Principal Investigator: Ryan Carpenter, PhD & Robert Miranda Jr., PhD, ABPP

The goal of this treatment development project is to develop and pilot an adaptive mobile health (mHealth) intervention that targets the co-use of alcohol and opioids in young adults with opioid use disorder (OUD). This intervention has the potential to significantly reduce the risk of opioid overdose and other use-related problems associated with alcohol-opioid co-use. Despite clear public health significance, no existing intervention targets this issue. This gap is especially detrimental to young adults, who have the highest rates of alcohol and opioid (i.e., nonmedical prescription opioid or heroin) use and use disorders of any age group.

Support: National Institutes of Health (R34AA029032)

Principal Investigators: Noah Emery, PhD & Robert Miranda Jr., PhD, ABPP

The combination of depressive symptoms and alcohol use is one of the most common and harmful combinations in youth. This project attempts to address the unmet needs of youth by testing the effects of an integrative therapy that combines a promising, novel, over-the-counter supplement with a psychosocial intervention for treating alcohol use in teens with depressive symptoms.

Support: National Institutes of Health (R21AA029033)

Principal Investigator: Melissa Pielech, PhD

This study seeks to develop and evaluate a brief intervention to help teens undergoing wisdom tooth extraction decrease substance use and cope with post-surgical pain in healthy ways. An additional focus of this work is to increase understanding of how pain and substance use are related to teens’ daily lives. In January 2022, we will be looking for teens (age 15-18 years) scheduled for oral surgery or who have recently had oral surgery, as well as parents or guardians, to share their experiences before and after surgery.

Support: National Institutes of Health (K23DA053411)

Principal Investigator: Robert Rosales, PhD

This study examines the associations between discrimination, alcohol use, and resilience at the moment among Latinx sexual minority youth in the United States. Qualitative methods refine and culturally adapt measures for mobile assessments. Mobile assessments will examine behaviors and attitudes toward alcohol use in real-time as well as contextual risk and protective factors as youth experience minority stress in daily life.

Support: National Institutes of Health (K08MD015289)

Principal Investigator: Robert Miranda Jr., PhD, ABPP

This project will examine an integrative digital health platform based on gold-standard psychosocial interventions for treating alcohol-related issues among adolescents. Adolescence is a critical period for the onset of alcohol issues. Alcohol use typically begins during adolescence and prevalence rates for alcohol use disorder peak before age 21. Yet, despite clinical demand, treatments for youth rely on psychosocial interventions that yield only modest benefits. The potential to significantly improve adolescent alcohol treatment by augmenting the best available psychosocial interventions with innovative digital health solutions is a key focus of this research.

Support: National Institutes of Health (K24AA026326)

Principal Investigator: Jamie Parnes, PhD

Marijuana use is disproportionately higher among sexual minorities relative to their heterosexual counterparts, and they are more likely to develop marijuana-related issues compared to heterosexuals. Our understanding of mechanisms that explain this disparity is nascent. This study, which leverages ecological momentary assessment to capture real-time measures of stressors, marijuana use, and related outcomes in daily life, has the potential to advance intervention development in this area.

Support: National Institutes of Health (K99DA057994)

Principal Investigator: Tiffany Jenzer, PhD

Most adolescents who present to treatment with alcohol use disorder have a co-occurring psychiatric diagnosis. Improving interventions requires understanding transdiagnostic treatment mechanisms that simultaneously target symptoms of multiple disorders. Emotion regulation skill use is one such mechanism. This project will explore change in emotion regulation skill use within a treatment context and examine its influence on relevant alcohol use and co-occurring disorder treatment outcomes.

Support: National Institutes of Health (K99AA031065)

Principal Investigator: Ryan Carpenter, PhD

Over 130 people die from an opioid overdose every day in the United States, and alcohol often plays a key role in these deaths. This project aims to develop and evaluate a brief alcohol-focused intervention as an adjunct to methadone maintenance treatment for patients with opioid use disorder who drink.

Support: National Institutes of Health (K23AA029729)

Principal Investigator: Andrea Wycoff, PhD

This project will fill a critical gap in our understanding of how marijuana use affects alcohol treatment outcomes among adolescents in community-based treatment. By understanding the complex relationship between marijuana use, treatment processes, and alcohol and mental health outcomes in community-based treatment, we can identify viable and meaningful intervention targets that could significantly improve treatment outcomes.

Support: National Institutes of Health (K23AA031517)

Principal Investigator: Robert Miranda Jr., PhD, ABPP

To better meet the needs of teens and parents receiving care through Bradley Vista, this project is developing a technology-supported intervention tool in the form of a mobile smartphone app for both teens and parents to supplement our standard package of clinical services.

Support: Carol Peterson Foundation