# Opioid overdose prevention in US higher education settings: a multisite, mixed methods study of college students and institutional leaders

> **NIH NIH R36** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · 2024 · $43,920

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Since 2019, adolescent overdoses have increased by 133% despite otherwise stable rates of substance use in the 14-25 age
group. Overdoses involving fentanyl (a highly potent synthetic opioid) tripled among adolescents and young adults from
2019 to 2021. There is also emerging evidence that fentanyl is being added to non-opioid drugs, such as stimulants (e.g.,
Adderall, Ritalin, cocaine) and counterfeit pills; this shift in fentanyl distribution may impact a much broader range of
adolescents and young adults, beyond those who knowingly use opioids. For numerous reasons—including that more than
half of all adolescents and young adults enroll in U.S. postsecondary education—colleges and universities represent an
important setting to understand and prevent opioid misuse and overdose nationwide. From a public health perspective, there
are two key gaps in evidence, which, if filled, would provide urgently needed information to inform opioid overdose
prevention during the developmentally and epidemiologically vulnerable college years. The first gap is the lack of large-
scale data on opioid overdose preparedness in college student populations, which could be used to design interventions for
subgroups of students who could most benefit. The second gap is that little is known about the perceptions of institutional
leaders regarding opioid overdose prevention at U.S. colleges and universities. Understanding the decision-making that
surrounds implementation of these programs, as well as the existing barriers for institutions that do not have such programs
and policies, is necessary to guide future intervention efforts in higher education. Utilizing three levels of data (population-
level student survey data, institutional-level policy data, institutional leader in-depth interview data), the immediate
objective of this project is to understand the current state of student opioid knowledge and opioid overdose prevention in
higher education. The long-term goal of this research is to generate evidence to inform the design and implementation of
opioid overdose and harm reduction programs and policies for the more than 16 million college students in the U.S.
The specific aims of this R36 proposal are to: (1) estimate, using national survey data from the Healthy Minds Study
(HMS), college students’ knowledge of (i) opioid risk, (ii) naloxone administration, and (iii) their willingness to intervene
during an opioid overdose (Aim 1 N=9,107 students at 18 institutions); and (2) explore, using in-depth interviews,
perceptions of and decision-making by institutional leaders regarding student opioid misuse and prevention efforts (Aim 2
N=24 at a diverse set of institutions with varying substance use policy environments). Survey data will be linked to a
college policy database to investigate associations between student-reported knowledge and opioid overdose and harm
reduction policies at included HMS institutions. In Aim 2, relevant leaders (e.g., direct...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10947526
- **Project number:** 1R36DA060997-01
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Christina Elliott Freibott
- **Activity code:** R36 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $43,920
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10947526

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10947526, Opioid overdose prevention in US higher education settings: a multisite, mixed methods study of college students and institutional leaders (1R36DA060997-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10947526. Licensed CC0.

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