ArticleContemporary clinical trials2023
A relational agent for treating substance use in adults: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial with a psychoeducational comparator.
Article in Contemporary clinical trials, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04925570 (Woebot for Substance Use Disorders Phase 2 RCT), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
Woebot for Substance Use Disorders Phase 2 RCT: Digitally Delivered Intervention for Reducing Problematic Substance Use
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mitigating fraud in a fully decentralized clinical trial of a digital health intervention.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Trial
- A systematic review of chatbot-assisted interventions for substance use.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSubstance use disorders (SUDs) are prevalent and compromise health and wellbeing. Scalable solutions, such as digital therapeutics, may offer a population-based strategy for addressing SUDs. Two formative studies supported the feasibility and acceptability of the relational agent Woebot, an animated screen-based social robot, for treating SUDs (W-SUDs) in adults. Participants randomized to W-SUDs reduced their substance use occasions from baseline to end-of-treatment (EOT) relative to a waitlist control.
objectiveTo further develop the evidence base, the current randomized trial extends follow-up to 1-month post-treatment and will test the efficacy of W-SUDs relative to a psychoeducational control.
methodsThis study will recruit, screen, and consent 400 adults online reporting problematic substance use. Following baseline assessment, participants will be randomized to 8 weeks of W-SUDs or a psychoeducational control. Assessments will be conducted at weeks 4, 8 (EOT), and 12 (1-month post-treatment). Primary outcome is past-month number of substance use occasions, summed across all substances. Secondary outcomes are number of heavy drinking days, the percent of days abstinent from all substances, substance use problems, thoughts about abstinence, cravings, confidence to resist substance use, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and work productivity. If significant group differences are found, we will explore moderators and mediators of treatment effects.
conclusionsThe current study builds upon emerging evidence of a digital therapeutic for reducing problematic substance use by examining sustained effects and testing against a psychoeducational control condition. If efficacious, the findings have implications for scalable mobile health interventions for reducing problematic substance use.
trial registrationNCT04925570.
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Identifiers
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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.