# Promoting positive parenting among pregnant women with opioid use disorder

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $153,476

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The overarching goal of my program of research is to develop and inform preventive interventions to improve
parent–child outcomes for families affected by substance use. The focus of this K23 award is to inform and
adapt an evidenced-based preventive parenting intervention, the Family Check-Up (FCU), to improve parent–
child outcomes among pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD). OUD is often accompanied by co-
occurring psychosocial challenges (e.g., mental health, compromised interpersonal relationships) that impact
caregiving quality. Existing parenting interventions for women with OUD largely begin postnatally, with the few
extant prenatal interventions narrowly focused on parenting education and skills and ending at or shortly after
birth. Further, existing interventions are often ill-equipped to address the common and complex psychosocial
challenges of women with OUD. As such, existing parenting interventions miss opportunities to intervene to
prevent the development of parenting challenges before the child’s birth and to intervene during pregnancy,
which is a peak window of engagement in OUD treatment services and enhanced motivation to engage in
recovery. This proposal addresses the need for parenting interventions for pregnant women with OUD that
begin during pregnancy and address co-occurring psychosocial challenges. Accordingly, the proposed project
will use qualitative and quantitative research methods to adapt and pilot the FCU for delivery during pregnancy
within a prenatal primary care setting for women with OUD. Aim 1 will qualitatively characterize the parenting
needs of women with OUD across the perinatal period, barriers to engagement in parenting interventions, and
desired outcomes of intervention. Aim 2 will adapt the FCU intervention for pregnancy using the ADAPT-ITT
framework and data collected during Aim 1. Aim 3 will conduct a pilot study of the prenatal FCU assessing
engagement and short-term outcomes including maternal psychosocial functioning (mental health and
interpersonal functioning) and parent–child relationship quality and self-efficacy.
To achieve the proposed goals and transition to independence, I require training in perinatal opioid use,
applied qualitative and mixed-methods research, and methods for developing and testing preventive
interventions. An experienced team will guide my training. Dr. Shaw (co-primary mentor) is a clinical and
developmental psychologist and co-developer of the postpartum FCU with expertise in parenting interventions
and prevention science. Dr. Krans (co-primary mentor) is an obstetrician-gynecologist and substance use
treatment provider with expertise in perinatal OUD and women’s health. Dr. Chang (co-mentor) is an
obstetrician-gynecologist with expertise in qualitative research methods and women’s health. The training and
research plan will form the basis to support an R-level proposal with the goal of bridging pre- and postnatal
parenting interventions to op...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10805394
- **Project number:** 5K23DA055092-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Katherine Guyon-Harris
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $153,476
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10805394

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10805394, Promoting positive parenting among pregnant women with opioid use disorder (5K23DA055092-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10805394. Licensed CC0.

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