ClinicalTrials.gg
WithdrawnNCT03287180A-CRA/MATUpdated Jul 28, 2020

Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach in Combination With Buprenorphine/Naloxone for Severe Opioid Use

An interventional study of Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) and Combination of buprenorphine/naloxone 4/1 in Opioid-Related Disorders and Behavior, Addictive, sponsored by Emory University. Withdrawn. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 25 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-07-28.

Sponsored by Emory University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was withdrawn
unable to enroll any participants
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 25 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

The study assesses whether adding a behavioral intervention, known as the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA), to the treatment of individuals already receiving buprenorphine/naloxone can improve treatment success and retention rates in young adults with severe opioid use disorder.

Read the detailed description

Buprenorphine is one of the medication assisted treatments approved by the FDA for opioid use disorders. Treatment with buprenorphine/naloxone may reduce the risk of opioid overdose and lower the occurrence of further conditions associated with injection drug use such as psychiatric disorders, hepatitis C infection, HIV, and high-risk sexual and criminal behaviors. The study assesses whether adding a behavioral intervention, known as the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA), to the treatment of individuals already receiving buprenorphine/naloxone can improve treatment success and retention rates in young adults with severe opioid use disorder.

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Conditions studied

  • Opioid-Related Disorders
  • Behavior, Addictive

Keywords

  • Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach
  • A-CRA
  • Opioid-Related Disorders
  • Behavior
  • Psychosocial treatment
  • Pharmacotherapy
  • Randomized controlled
  • Adolescent
  • Young adult
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In context

Opioid-Related Disorders

1,472 studies on the registry are indexed under Opioid-Related Disorders; 290 are open to participants now.

Browse Opioid-Related Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

Emory University is the lead sponsor of 1,405 studies on the registry; 225 are open to participants now.

Of its 237 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 178 (75%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 25 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • have met criteria for severe opioid use disorder
  • no sensitivity to buprenorphine or naloxone
  • no further medical/addictive conditions that require immediate medical attention
  • ability to read and provide
  • intent to remain in the area for the duration of the study
  • able to receive outpatient care
  • agreed to use an acceptable method throughout the duration of this study (female participants)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • endorsement of imminent and serious suicidality
  • medical conditions that take precedence over the presence of treatment for an addictive disorder
  • history of an adverse reaction to buprenorphine/naloxone
  • current substance use or psychiatric condition requiring a level of care higher than outpatient
  • pregnant, nursing or planning pregnancy during the extent of the treatment trial(female participants)
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(3)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

DSM diagnostic criteria

The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Experimental group

    Participants in the experimental group will attend one individual assessment with the study physician for combination of buprenorphine/naloxone 4/1 prescription and urinalysis, along with one weekly Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) session (approximately 50 minutes).

    Behavioral: Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) · Other: Combination of buprenorphine/naloxone 4/1

  • Active comparator
    Control group

    Participants in the control condition will attend weekly individual medical management sessions with the MD who will also provide a prescription for a combination of buprenorphine/naloxone 4/1 (approximately 25 minutes in duration).

    Other: Combination of buprenorphine/naloxone 4/1

Interventions

  • BehavioralAdolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA)

    The A-CRA is a modified version of the Community Reinforcement Approach for adolescents and transitional age youth. The A-CRA treatment protocol consists of nineteen procedures designed to promote positive behavior change directed towards prosocial activities and engagement in the individual's community. A community can include but is not limited to: social and peer activities, family interaction, and work or school environments. Some of the highlighted procedures include relapse prevention, sobriety sampling, problem solving, and communication skills. There are also combined parent/and or couples relationship sessions with the young adult. In the current study, 12-weeks of A-CRA treatment will be provided to the intervention group.

  • OtherCombination of buprenorphine/naloxone 4/1

    Buprenorphine is a partial agonist at mu-opioid receptor, an antagonist at kappa-opioid receptor. Naloxone is an antagonist at the mu-opioid receptor. Buprenorphine/naloxone requires the use of an induction to avoid the risk of withdrawal. Participants are instructed not to use opioids for at least 10 hours prior to first dose. Once symptoms of withdrawal score a minimum of 7 on the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS), the first dose of 4/1 mg will be given. Participants will be monitored for an hour. An additional 4/1 mg dose can be provided to a dose that suppresses withdrawal effects. The physician then provides a prescription for 8/2-16/4 mg for Day 2. Doses can be adjusted with a maximum of total 24/6 mg/day. The target daily dose is 16/4 mg.

    Also known as: Suboxone/Narcan

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Proportion of opiates-negative urine drug screens over the total number of urine drug screens at each stage

    Qualitative urine test for opiates (+/-) will be performed. All presumptive positive assays will be confirmed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The concentration value must be greater than or equal to the cutoff to be reported as positive. The opiates test results (positive/negative) will be documented. Proportion of opiates-negative urine drug screens over the total number of urine drug screens at each stage will be reported.

    Time frame: Each session (weekly) up to 24 weeks.

  2. Percent of days of opioid use within the past 90 days as indicated by self-report on the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs

    The Global Appraisal of Individual Needs is a comprehensive, semi-structured interview measure with established validity and reliability used to identify and address a wide range of psychosocial problems in clinical populations. Average administration time for the GAIN Intake version is 1.5 hours and 45 minutes for the follow-up version. The assessment categories include background, school problems, work problems, physical health, sources of stress, risk behaviors and infectious diseases, mental health, substance use, and crime and violence. Substance use categories document self-reported frequency of substance use within the past 90 days for each substance endorsed (alcohol, opioids, marijuana, and other illicit psychoactive drugs). Individuals are able to say that they do not know, or refuse to answer any questions that they do not want to answer.

    Time frame: Pre-treatment (baseline) and post-study intervention (12 weeks visit after completion of A-CRA ), and end of follow-up (24-week visit) .

Secondary outcomes

  1. Completion of the final phase of treatment defined as final study session (yes/no)

    To investigate any difference in treatment retention in the experimental group compared to the control group.

    Time frame: 24-week visit

  2. Number of clinic visits by patient and any expected joint family member sessions

    To investigate any difference in treatment retention in the experimental group compared to the control group.

    Time frame: 2-, 12, and 24-week visits.

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Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

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References and documents

Publications

  • Arnett JJ. Emerging adulthood. A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. Am Psychol. 2000 May;55(5):469-80. PubMed 10842426 ↗
  • Jones CM, Logan J, Gladden RM, Bohm MK. Vital Signs: Demographic and Substance Use Trends Among Heroin Users - United States, 2002-2013. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015 Jul 10;64(26):719-25. PubMed 26158353 ↗
  • Godley SH, Smith JE, Passetti LL, Subramaniam G. The Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) as a model paradigm for the management of adolescents with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric disorders. Subst Abus. 2014;35(4):352-63. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2014.936993. PubMed 25035906 ↗
  • Wesson DR, Ling W. The Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS). J Psychoactive Drugs. 2003 Apr-Jun;35(2):253-9. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2003.10400007. PubMed 12924748 ↗
  • Rudd RA, Aleshire N, Zibbell JE, Gladden RM. Increases in Drug and Opioid Overdose Deaths--United States, 2000-2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016 Jan 1;64(50-51):1378-82. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6450a3. PubMed 26720857 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 28, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03287180
Lead sponsor
Emory University
Collaborators
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Chestnut Health Systems
Responsible party
Justine Welsh (Assistant Professor, Emory University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 19, 2017
Start date
Jan 1, 2019
Primary completion
Jun 9, 2020
Completion
Jun 9, 2020
Last update
Jul 28, 2020

Study contacts

Justine Welsh, MD
principal investigator · SOM: Psych: Child Psych - CAMP Emory University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Jul 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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