ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2021
Socially-supportive norms and mutual aid of people who use opioids: An analysis of Reddit during the initial COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.
- Qualitative content analysis of public responses to an FDA inquiry on the impact of scheduling changes to kratom.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Pooled it
- Socioenvironmental disasters and the dialectics of overdose mortality.The International journal on drug policy · 2026Article
- Parents Use Online Communities to Seek Guidance on Child Substance Use, Parental Use, and Family Substance Use Challenges: A Content Analysis of Reddit Posts.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2026Article
- Autistic Burnout on Reddit: A Sisyphean Struggle with Daily Tasks.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Characterizing sentiment and self-reported experiences with nonalcoholic beverages in the context of efforts to quit or cut down on drinking.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2026Article
- TikTok is a valuable data source for tracking the opioid crisis.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- #Opioids: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Top Opioid-Related Content on TikTok.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2025Article
- Medication experiences in the treatment of opioid use disorders: Insights from Reddit.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Self-Disclosure and Social Support in a Web-Based Opioid Recovery Community: Machine Learning Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Ambulatory assessment to advance the science of nondrug reward in addiction and recovery.Addiction research & theory · 2025Article
- Have Others Had This Experience? A Qualitative Analysis of Posts on Self-Managed Abortion to US-Based Reddit Community.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2025Article
- Analyzing the Contents of a Large, Public Online Peer Support Forum for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Thematic Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Contextualizing Changes in e-Cigarette Use During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic and Accompanying Infodemic ("So Much Contradictory Evidence"): Qualitative Document Analysis of Reddit Forums.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Content analysis of substance use disorder recovery discourse on Twitter: From personal recovery narratives to marketing of addiction treatment.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Article
- A research agenda for encouraging prosocial behaviour on social media.Nature human behaviour · 2025Review
- Teenager Substance Use on Reddit: Mixed Methods Computational Analysis of Frames and Emotions.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Self-reported experiences and perspectives on using psychedelics to manage opioid use among participants of two Reddit communities.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Exposure to content written by large language models can reduce stigma around opioid use disorder.NPJ artificial intelligence · 2025Article
- Self-Reported Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Networking About Opioid Misuse Among Those Who Have or Are Currently Misusing Opioids.Substance use & misuse · 2025Article
- Large-Scale Analysis of Online Questions Related to Opioid Use Disorder on Reddit.Proceedings of the ... International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media. International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media · 2025Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBig events (i.e., unique historical disruptions) like the COVID-19 epidemic and its associated period of social distancing can transform social structures, social interactions, and social norms. Social distancing rules and the fear of infection have greatly reduced face-to-face interactions, increased loneliness, reduced ties to helping institutions, and may also have disrupted the opioid use behaviors of people who use drugs. This research used Reddit to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the social networks and social processes of people who use opioids.
methodsData were collected from the social media forum, Reddit.com. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. (March 5, 2020, to May 13, 2020), 2,000 Reddit posts were collected from the two most popular opioid subreddits (r/OpiatesRecovery, r/Opiates). Posts were reviewed for relevance to COVID-19 and opioid use resulting in a final sample of 300. Thematic analysis was guided by the Big Events framework.
resultsThe COVID-19 pandemic was found to create changes in the social networks and daily lives among persons who use opioids. Adaptions to these changes shifted social networks leading to robust social support and mutual aid on Reddit, including sharing and seeking advice on facing withdrawal, dealing with isolation, managing cravings, and accessing recovery resources.
conclusionsReddit provided an important source of social support and mutual aid for persons who use opioids. Findings indicate online social support networks are beneficial to persons who use opioids, particularly during big events where isolation from other social support resources may occur.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.