# The Role of Behavior Therapy Combined with Buprenorphine for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder

> **NIH NIH R01** · MCLEAN HOSPITAL · 2022 · $350,550

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The misuse of opioids has reached an epidemic level in the United States, with approximately 2 million people
suffering from opioid use disorder and over 46,800 opioid overdose fatalities in 2019. Medication-based
treatment for opioid use disorder—such as buprenorphine maintenance—is effective and can save lives,
however, approximately half of people who receive buprenorphine do not adequately respond or drop out of
treatment. In contrast to other substance use disorders, the addition of behavior therapy to buprenorphine has
not consistently shown improvements in opioid use outcomes for opioid use disorder. Preliminary evidence
suggests that not everyone may need the addition of behavior therapy to buprenorphine to reduce opioid use,
but that certain subgroups of people may benefit from behavior therapy. The ability to understand
heterogeneity in response to treatment for opioid use disorder is hampered by the need for very large sample
sizes to test questions about moderators of treatment response. Understanding subgroup differences can
ultimately inform personalized medicine approaches to the treatment of opioid use disorder. Our objective for
this proposal is to answer urgent questions about subgroup responses to behavioral therapy by harmonizing
data from 4 completed clinical trials of treatment for opioid use disorder. These NIDA-funded randomized trials
each tested the efficacy of behavior therapy added to buprenorphine maintenance for opioid use disorder and
include common data elements, allowing for their harmonization. Our project aims include: (1) to identify
subgroups who respond to behavior therapy when added to buprenorphine maintenance for opioid use
disorder, (2) to quantify the efficacy of behavior therapy for improving buprenorphine treatment retention, and
(3) to quantify the efficacy of behavior therapy for functional outcomes. The results from this study will provide
important information about who responds to behavior therapy and the effect of behavior therapy on non-opioid
use endpoints. Our proposal will utilize well-validated longitudinal data analysis methods, including a rigorous
approach to missing data. By using existing datasets, this proposal provides an efficient way to answer urgent
questions about the treatment of opioid use disorder and provides significant added value to these trials. These
findings can be immediately used to inform personalized approaches to treatment for opioid use disorder and
will also contribute to understanding of the impact of behavior therapy on endpoints of interest to patients and
families.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10440820
- **Project number:** 1R01DA054113-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MCLEAN HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Rebecca Kathryn McHugh
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $350,550
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-05-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10440820

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10440820, The Role of Behavior Therapy Combined with Buprenorphine for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (1R01DA054113-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10440820. Licensed CC0.

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