Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38266572›Full record

ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2024

A brief measure of non-drug reinforcement: Association with treatment outcomes during initial substance use recovery.

Samuel F Acuff, Jennifer D Ellis, Jill A Rabinowitz, Martin Hochheimer, J Gregory Hobelmann, Andrew S Huhn, Justin C Strickland

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 12% 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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Perceived stigma and its role in substance use disorder treatment completion.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2025
    Article
  8. Human laboratory models of reward in substance use disorder.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2024
    Review
  9. Review
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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Samuel F AcuffRecovery Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jennifer D EllisDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Ashley Addiction Treatment, Havre de Grace, MD, USA.
Jill A RabinowitzDepartment of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Martin HochheimerDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
J Gregory HobelmannDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Ashley Addiction Treatment, Havre de Grace, MD, USA.
Andrew S HuhnDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Ashley Addiction Treatment, Havre de Grace, MD, USA.
Justin C StricklandDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Ashley Addiction Treatment, Havre de Grace, MD, USA. Electronic address: jstric14@jhmi.edu.
Johns Hopkins University · USGrace (United States) · USHarvard University · USJohns Hopkins Medicine · US

Funding

HUMAN BEHAVIORAL PHARMACOLOGY OF SUBSTANCE ABUSET32DA007209 · NIDA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Eric C. Strain, Elise M Weerts · 1985 to 2026
$12.9M
Evaluating Suvorexant for Sleep Disturbance in Opioid Use DisorderUH3DA048734 · NIDA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI DUNN, KELLY E, HUHN, ANDREW S · 2021 to 2021
$3.6M
Influence of Orexin Antagonism on Opioid and Methamphetamine DemandR01DA055634 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI Justin Charles Strickland · 2023 to 2026
$2.6M
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA055634NIDA NIH HHS T32 DA007209NIDA NIH HHS UH3 DA048734
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTranslational research demonstrates that drug use is inversely associated with availability and engagement with meaningful non-drug reinforcers. Evaluation of non-drug reinforcement in treatment-receiving clinical populations is limited, likely owing to the time intensive nature of existing measures. This study explores the association of non-drug reinforcers with treatment outcomes using a novel, brief measure of past month non-drug reinforcement quantifying three elements: relative frequency, access, and enjoyability.

methodsRespondents enrolled in substance use treatment (residential, intensive outpatient, and medically managed withdrawal) in clinics across the United States (N = 5481) completed standardized assessments of non-drug reinforcement and treatment outcomes (i.e., return to use and life satisfaction) one-month after treatment discharge. Non-drug reinforcement measures (availability, engagement, enjoyability) were used as predictors of return to use and life satisfaction using generalized linear models.

resultsNon-drug reinforcement indices were associated with return to use and life satisfaction in unadjusted models (e.g., 12.4 % versus 58.3 % return to use for those with the highest and lowest availability, respectively). Consistent results were observed in models adjusted for sociodemographic variables and risk factors (i.e., sleep disturbance, anhedonia, stress). Comparisons by drug class generally showed lower non-drug reinforcement among patients reporting heroin or methamphetamine as their primary drug.

conclusionsResults highlight the importance of non-drug reinforcement during the first month following treatment. Rapid measurement of non-drug reinforcement in stepped care settings may illuminate critical deficits in early stages of behavior change, identify those at greatest risk for return to use, and provide targets for treatment to improve recovery trajectories.

Indexed as

Reinforcement, PsychologySubstance-Related DisordersHeroinHumansTreatment OutcomeUnited StatesHeroinAddictionBehavioral EconomicsPartial HospitalizationStepped CareSubstance Use

Identifiers

PMID38266572
PMCPMC10922801
OpenAlexW4391070049

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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.