SMART Effectiveness Trial

November 20, 2025 updated by: Karen Derefinko, PhD

Pilot Test of Contingency Management and Brief Motivational Interviewing + Substance Free Activity Session Interventions + Mindfulness-Based Adherence Promotion

The current study piloted two psychosocial interventions developed to increase buprenorphine-naloxone adherence in individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Participants were randomized to receive either contingency management (CM) or a brief substance free activities session plus mindfulness (BSM) cognitive-behavioral intervention. Participants were 48 newly presenting patients from an OUD treatment clinic. The primary outcome was medication adherence, as measured by buprenorphine metabolite in urine and presence at 2 or more of 4 possible physician visits.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

We engaged with referred OUD patients at the time of their initial visit to the clinic. Interested patients were informed about the study in a private room, and if eligible, were consented and randomized to condition. Randomization occurred in blocks of 4. At the next physician visit, participants engaged in their first intervention activities (either CM or BSM). This was repeated for the following 3 physician visits.

CM. Contingency Management (CM). The CM intervention provided participants with a gift card at each of the first 4 follow up physician visits to the clinic where the participant's urine showed evidence of buprenorphine use. The strategy for CM rewards was based upon Petry's "fishbowl" draw, where variable values of gift cards were available for draw at each positive buprenorphine urine toxicology result. For the current study, which was conducted when COVID safety requirements were still high, a computerized "picker wheel" was used rather than an actual fishbowl to reduce possible viral transmission. Participants watched the wheel spin and told the interventionist when to stop the spin, at which time the value of the gift card was displayed. The picker wheel was programmed to include a 60% chance of a $25 gift card, a 20% chance of a $50 gift card, and a 20% chance of a $100 gift card. The average (expected) value of gift cards at this rate was $45 (or $180 total across 16 weeks, well below the typical range used in similar work).

BSM. Brief Motivational Interviewing plus Substance Free Activities Session plus Mindfulness (BSM). The BSM intervention included the following topics: (1) Short and Long-Term Goals: Identifying goals (e.g., What are your goals for this month…for the next 5 years?), requirements needed to achieve these goals (e.g., What would you need to do to achieve those goals?) and the potential role of relapse in jeopardizing these goals; (2) Personalized Feedback on Recent Time Allocation: (e.g., time spent with family, work, education/hobbies/creative activities, exercise/time in nature/self-care, watching tv/surfing the internet, religious or spiritual activities, recovery and nonrecovery activities; along with open ended questions asking about the extent to which their recent time allocation is consistent with their goals and values; (3) Episodic Future Thinking: An experiential intervention that prompts individuals to describe personal, emotional, and situational details of a valued future outcome that they desire; (4) Substance Free Activities: Based upon named hobbies and interests, participants were offered a personalized list of locally available substance-free activities developed by the interventionist; (5) Stop Observe Breathe Expand Respond (SOBER) Breathing Space: This exercise is intended to bring awareness to one's experiences without judgment. This technique includes the following steps: Stop or Slow down. Observe what is happening. Bring attention to Breathing. Expand awareness to the whole body. Respond mindfully, with awareness.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
48

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Tennessee
      • Memphis, Tennessee, United States, 38163
        • University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Present for an intake appointment at study site for treatment of opioid use disorder.
  • Eligible for receipt of buprenorphine-naloxone treatment (e.g. Suboxone, Bunavil, Zubsolv) as determined by clinic physicians
  • 18 years or older
  • Willing to be randomized to one of the two intervention arms
  • Ability to comprehend consent and intervention materials (approximately 8th-grade level).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Contingency management (CM)
Participants received incentives for urine toxicology with a positive result for Buprenorphine metabolites at each of the first four visits after initiation of Buprenorphine-Naloxone.
Behavioral: Contingency Management (CM)
Participants were able to draw a gift card from a virtual fishbowl when their urine toxicology results are positive for buprenorphine metabolites. Gift card values were $25, $50, or $100.
Experimental: BSM
BSM (Brief Motivational Intervention + Substance Free Activities Session + Mindfulness-Based Adherence Promotion) participants had one-on-one behavioral intervention sessions at each of the first four visits after initiation of Buprenorphine-Naloxone.
Behavioral: Brief Motivational Intervention + Substance Free Activities Session + Mindfulness-Based Adherence Promotion (BSM)
Participants had one-on-one sessions with a behavioral interventionist to discuss their goals regarding treatment, how to reach these goals, the importance of substance-free activities, and mindfulness skills.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Treatment Adherence
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 4 months
Defined as no negative buprenorphine urine tests and attendance of at least two visits.
Through study completion, an average of 4 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Karen Derefinko, PhD

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
University of New Mexico
University of Memphis

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Karen J Derefinko, PhD, University of Tennessee

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 17, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 30, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 29, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 23, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 6, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 9, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 5, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 20, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 20-07418-XP UM

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Opioid Dependence

Clinical Trials on Contingency Management (CM)

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings