An observational study in Alcoholism and Substance-Related Disorders, sponsored by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 120 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.
Sponsored by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) · Observational
Background:
About 1.5 million adults in the US enter alcohol or substance use treatment programs each year. Unfortunately, more than half of patients do not finish their program. For those who start treatment, about 70% return to substance use within weeks or months after starting treatment. To discover why patients drop out of treatment and return to substance use - and what can be done about it - researchers need to learn more about people who use drugs and alcohol.
Objective:
To create a data repository by gathering survey and smartphone data from adults who use drugs and alcohol in order to conduct future research.
Eligibility:
Adults who have used drugs or alcohol in the past and have a Android smartphone. The researchers will recruit targeted demographics at different times throughout the duration of the study period.
Design:
Data will be collected for up to 6 months. All research activities will be online.
Participants will download a smartphone app called TTRU-Curtis AWARE and keep it active on their phone. The app will run in the background and collect participant data, including: screen unlocks, duration of time the screen is on; apps used; words typed (except passwords); duration and time of phone calls; estimated location (exact location is not collected); and movement, such as how many steps are taken in a day. All personally identifying information is automatically removed before the data is stored (including phone numbers, names, or locations described in messages).
Each day, participants will receive a text with a link to a survey. They will answer questions about their mood, behavior, and substance use from the day before. This survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete.
Every 30 days, participants will complete a longer survey. They will answer questions about their personal relationships, risky behaviors, mood, substance use, and feelings. They can skip any questions they do not feel comfortable answering. These surveys should take about 30 minutes to complete.
Participants may opt to allow researchers to access their social media posts.
Description:
This project aims to establish a comprehensive data repository for conducting secondary research, including the analysis of digital phenotype data from individuals who have historically used drugs, including alcohol. Our hypothesis is that digital phenotyping can reveal unique behavioral patterns and risk factors associated with substance use. By collecting data such as smartphone app usage, social media interactions, language data, phone sensor measurements, historical conversational AI data, and wearable device metrics, the TTRU research lab will be able to conduct secondary analyses and uncover insights that could inform prevention and intervention strategies with individuals who use substances.
Objectives
Primary Objective:
The primary objective is to establish the NIDA-IRP Technology and Translational Research Unit (TTRU) Substance Monitoring and Active Relapse Tracking Repository (SMART-r) for collection, storage, and analysis of the human data from individuals who use substances. The secure, high-quality resource of digital, sensor, social media, conversational AI data, self-report, and clinical data (Repository Materials) will be created. Core variables of interest include sensor data, language, and relevant self-report measures. The intention to collect digital phenotyping data is to aid in the efficiency and efficacy of secondary research investigating health outcomes for individuals who use substances by creating a repository of de-identified data.
1,674 studies on the registry are indexed under Alcoholism; 331 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 10,000 is above the median of 159 across 183 observational studies indexed under Alcoholism.
Browse Alcoholism studies →National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the lead sponsor of 393 studies on the registry; 19 are open to participants now.
Of its 14 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 6 (43%) have results posted.
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Adults who have used drugs or alcohol in the past and have a Android smartphone. The researchers will recruit targeted demographics at different times throughout the duration of the study period.
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.
In order to be eligible to participate in the repository, an individual must meet all of the following criteria:
Have a smartphone as their primary mobile phone.
--For the AWARE app data monitoring procedure, there may be times during this study period where, due to technical or OS limitations, the app is only available to users of certain devices (e.g., Android, iOS). If there is such a limitation, this information will be evaluated during screening. For example, if the AWARE app is not available for iOS, then the screening form may exclude iPhone users for that time period where the limitation exists, if the only procedures offered are daily diary surveys and AWARE data monitoring.
Understand and write in English.
--This exclusion criterion is included because future research on the data collected will include linguistic analysis. all linguistic analyses, we remove rare words (e.g., words must be said by at least 95% of participants)95. Additionally, there are cultural differences across languages and, thus, interpreting language results across more than one language becomes difficult.96 As a result, we must keep analysis limited to a single language (English), since words in other languages will not meet that criteria.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this repository:
1. Any impairment severe enough to preclude or valid self-report.
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.
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.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Adults 18 years or older who use drugs or alcohol
SMARTr data repository
The primary objective is to establish the NIDA-IRP Technology and Translational Research Unit (TTRU) Substance Monitoring and Active Relapse Tracking Repository (SMART-r) for collection, storage, and analysis of the human data from individuals who use substances.
Time frame: 20 years
Plan to share: No — Only aggregated data will be made available upon request.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) →