# A Behavioral Intervention to Engage Emerging Adults in Addiction Treatment after a Non-fatal Opioid Overdose

> **NIH NIH K23** · BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $180,122

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Opioid-related overdose deaths continue to climb at alarming rates – greater than 200% since 2000. Emerging
adults (individuals aged 18-25 years old) are a key demographic in the opioid epidemic, and especially
important to engage in treatment, as they account for increasingly high absolute and relative rates of fatal
opioid overdoses. Emerging adulthood is a distinct developmental stage and so these treatment engagement
efforts should be developmentally tailored. This application describes a 5-year patient-oriented mentored
research and training plan to develop a behavioral intervention focused on engagement of high risk emerging
adults to treatment after they present to the emergency department with a nonfatal overdose. The proposed
intervention model is based on a motivational intervention to reduce overdose risk by improving self-efficacy in
adults who have a history of recent nonmedical use of opioid analgesics. My career goal is to become an
independent clinician investigator with an expertise in behavioral intervention development and testing for
emerging adults with opioid use disorders. The specific aims of this application are to 1) quantify the time to
addiction treatment or recurrent overdose for emerging adults who experience a nonfatal overdose, 2) use
qualitative methods to inform intervention development for emerging adults who experience a nonfatal
overdose, and 3) conduct a pilot trial to determine feasibility and logistics of the intervention. My educational
objectives are to learn: 1) behavioral intervention development, 2) science of behavior change in emerging
adults, and 3) clinical trial design. I have identified a well-respected mentoring team and a supportive
environment to help me achieve my goals. The results from this work will position me to submit a R01 grant to
conduct a fully-powered efficacy trial of an intervention to reduce overdose risk behaviors and increase
treatment engagement among emerging adults with non-fatal overdose.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10201537
- **Project number:** 5K23DA044324-05
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah M Bagley
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $180,122
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-15 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10201537

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10201537, A Behavioral Intervention to Engage Emerging Adults in Addiction Treatment after a Non-fatal Opioid Overdose (5K23DA044324-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10201537. Licensed CC0.

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