# RCT of Woebot for Substance Use Disorders

> **NIH NIH R44** · WOEBOT LABS, INC. · 2021 · $5,800

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Substance abuse accounts for 5-6% of the US population yet only 20% of individuals with substance use
disorders (SUDs) utilize treatment services given the significant treatment access barriers (e.g., stigma;
economic, time, and transportation constraints; lack of access to qualified providers; challenges navigating
complex treatment systems; low perceived utility). Consumer applications (apps) and automated
conversational agents (CAs) may reduce or eliminate common yet significant barriers to traditional SUDs
treatment. CAs can deliver a coach or sponsor-like experience and yet do not require human implementation
assistance for in-the-moment treatment delivery. Thus, their scale potential is unconstrained and immediate;
CAs engage millions of users instantaneously. Being non-human-based also reduces perceived stigma. The
conversational, text-based interface increases engagement, a feat non-relational apps have failed to achieve
consistently. Woebot, a CA instantaneously available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, ‘checks in’ with
users. Using conversational tones, it encourages mood tracking and delivers general psychoeducation as well
as tailored empathy, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)-based behavior change tools, and behavioral pattern
insight. Woebot’s app-based platform and user-centered design philosophy makes it an optimal modality for
SUDs treatment delivery; it offers immediate, evidence-based tailored support in the patient’s peak moment of
craving. An RCT demonstrated that Woebot had statistically and clinically significant reductions in depression
compared to a control group, along with best in class app-engagement rates (mean=12 interactions in 14
days). Woebot does not currently offer a SUDs program, although 63% of current users expressed interest in
said content. Woebot’s current, substantial reach as a consumer app, preliminary data indicating its high user
engagement plus efficacy to treat a psychological condition, posies it as an ideal platform for a SUDs-focused,
tailored, and immediately scalable digital therapeutic. Thus, this application proposes to: (1) develop and pilot
an evidence-based, substance abuse content specific for a Woebot-delivered digital therapeutic for individuals
with sub- and full syndrome substance use disorders (Woebot-SUDs; phase I); (2) engage with the FDA
regarding W-SUDs potential for FDA approval as well as (3) investigate W-SUDs efficacy compared to a SCC
in an appropriately powered RCT (phase II).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10398375
- **Project number:** 3R44DA048712-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** WOEBOT LABS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Athena Robinson
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $5,800
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10398375

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10398375, RCT of Woebot for Substance Use Disorders (3R44DA048712-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10398375. Licensed CC0.

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