Understanding the Ways that Chronic Pain, Depression Symptoms, and Resilience Affect Retention in and Adherence to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment 

Project Contact: Melanie Bennett, PhD

People with opioid use disorder (OUD) frequently experience co-morbid chronic pain and depression, both of which are risk factors for poor long-term outcomes. This project will explore relationships among chronic pain, depression, treatment retention, and medication adherence in a diverse sample of OUD patients who are entering treatment (with either methadone or buprenorphine) at the University of Maryland Addiction Treatment Center (UMATC) in Baltimore.  

We will also examine how these variables affect and are affected by resilience to better understand whether and how resilience may support OUD treatment retention. We will collect questionnaire measures from OUD patients and conduct qualitative interviews with patients and clinic staff. These findings will help us plan ways to (1) add staff training to deliver behavioral interventions to address these comorbidities (pain, depressive symptoms) and support resilience-building interventions as part of the treatment process, and (2) collect pilot data to support a larger implementation trial.