Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38238852›Full record

ArticleSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2024

Pathways to opioid use and implications for prevention: voices of young adults in recovery.

Parissa J Ballard, Taylor J Arnold, Elena M Vidrascu, Guadalupe C Hernandez, Emily Ozer, Mark Wolfson, Rebekah Lassiter, Himani Nayyar, Stephanie S Daniel

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
5.5field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Perceived Social Connectedness and Substance Use among Adolescents and Young Adults in North Carolina.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Parissa J BallardWake Forest University School of Medicine, 1920 West 1st St, Winston-Salem, NC, 27104, USA. pballard@wakehealth.edu.
Taylor J ArnoldWake Forest University School of Medicine, 1920 West 1st St, Winston-Salem, NC, 27104, USA.
Elena M VidrascuPsychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Guadalupe C HernandezSchool of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Emily OzerCommunity Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
Mark WolfsonDepartment of Social Medicine, Population, and Public Health, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
Rebekah LassiterWake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Himani NayyarWake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Stephanie S DanielWake Forest University School of Medicine, 1920 West 1st St, Winston-Salem, NC, 27104, USA.
Wake Forest University · USUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · USBerkeley Public Health Division · USUniversity of California, Riverside · US

Funding

Youth Engagement: An Organization-Level Strategy to Prevent Opioid Misuse among Young AdultsK01DA048201 · NIDA · WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI BALLARD, PARISSA JAHROMI · 2020 to 2024
$745k
NIDA NIH HHS K01 DA048201NIH HHS 5K01DA048201
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOpioid use remains a major public health issue, especially among young adults. Despite investment in harm reduction and supply-side strategies such as reducing overprescribing and safe medication disposal, little is known about demand-side issues, such as reasons for use and pathways to opioid use. Adolescents and young adults who struggle with opioid use disorder (OUD) are multifaceted individuals with varied individual histories, experiences, challenges, skills, relationships, and lives.

methodsTo inform the development of prevention strategies that hold promise for addressing opioid use, this study employs brief structured surveys and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 young adults (ages 18-29; 19 female, 23 White, 16 from Suburban areas) in recovery from OUD. For survey data, we used descriptive statistics to summarize the means and variance of retrospectively reported risk and protective factors associated with opioid use. For in-depth interview data, we used a combination of thematic analysis and codebook approaches to generate common themes and experiences shared by participants.

resultsSurveys revealed that the most endorsed risk factors pertained to emotions (emotional neglect and emotional abuse) followed by sexual abuse, physical abuse, and physical neglect. Themes generated from qualitative analyses reveal challenging experiences during adolescence, such as unaddressed mental health, social, and emotional needs, which were often reported as reasons for opioid initiation and use. Through surveys and interviews, we also identified positive assets, such as skills and social relationships that were present for many participants during adolescence.

conclusionImplications include the need for universal prevention strategies that include emotion-focused interventions and supports alongside current harm reduction and environmental strategies to regulate prescriptions; the potential utility of more emotion-focused items being included on screening tools; and more voices of young people in recovery.

Indexed as

Analgesics, OpioidOpioid-Related DisordersAdolescentFemaleHumansMental HealthRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsYoung AdultAnalgesics, OpioidAdolescents and young adultsOpioid use disorderSubstance use prevention

Identifiers

PMID38238852
PMCPMC10795392
OpenAlexW4390975209

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.