Articles (Publications)

Objective: To examine state variation in credentialing requirements for peer support specialists (PSSs) providing Medicaid-covered substance use disorder services. Methods: A systematic search identified PSS credentialing requirements in 40 states. Requirements were analyzed across 10 credentialing components, including education, training, work experience, examinations, and certification maintenance. Results: Credentialing requirements varied widely across states. Most required…

In a retrospective cohort study of 554 hospitalized adults with opioid use disorder (2019–2022), higher early methadone dosing was associated with lower rates of patient-directed discharge (PDD). Among patients receiving methadone within 24 hours of emergency department presentation (n = 325), each additional 10 mg of methadone was associated with reduced odds of PDD at…

The Cultural Adaptation of a Substance Use Treatment (CAST) Project is a community-led mixed-methods study focused on developing a culturally responsive substance use intervention for Black youth impacted by the legal system. The study examines how racial discrimination influences substance use and mental health outcomes while centering the perspectives of youth, parents, and community stakeholders.…

Methadone is a life-saving treatment for opioid use disorder, yet in the United States it imposes an exceptional burden on patients due to restrictive and outdated regulations. Unlike other chronic therapies, methadone access is limited to specialized opioid treatment programs (OTPs), requiring frequent in-person visits that create substantial travel, time, and stigma-related barriers. Drawing on…

Background: Practical and motivational barriers can deter people from engaging in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, even those who seek treatment. Care navigation is a psychosocial intervention that seeks to facilitate patients’ timely access to care by identifying and intervening upon barriers. Few trials have tested the effectiveness of care navigation when embedding in real-world…

Background: Contingency management (CM) is the most effective treatment for stimulant use, but is underutilized due to implementation challenges. Digital CM platforms have shown promise in addressing barriers to implementation, but there is limited understanding of factors impacting delivery of a digital CM platform over time. The goal of this longitudinal study was to measure…

Buprenorphine is a cornerstone medication for opioid use disorder (OUD) but carries a known risk of precipitated withdrawal (PW) during initiation, a concern that appears to be increasing in the era of nonpharmaceutical fentanyl (NPF). Kawasaki and colleagues report findings from a 2023–2024 nationally representative survey of 396 US buprenorphine prescribers examining challenges with buprenorphine…

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network (CTN) has supported clinical trials of substance use disorder (SUD) interventions for 25 years. This review describes the use of implementation outcomes across CTN trials, characterizes outcomes included, and identifies gaps and potential opportunities to strengthen implementation research within the CTN and the field of…

Designing effectiveness studies with implementation in mind can allow interventionists to translate their research into real-world practice. Implementation outcomes measure how much and how well a particular intervention was implemented and can provide valuable insights into any heterogeneity in effectiveness outcomes. As part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-term®…

Dashboards—tools that compile and summarize key performance data—have become increasingly utilized for supporting data organization and decision-making processes across various fields, such as business, economics, healthcare, and policy. The dashboard’s impact is dependent on its use by the individuals for whom it was designed. Yet, few studies measure dashboard use, and of those that do,…