Discrimination, social support, and health-related quality of life among individuals with criminal records.

Several studies have found an association between social identity-based discrimination and reduced physical health. Research also indicates that social support may sometimes protectively moderate this relationship. This study addresses the lack of sufficient research regarding these connections among individuals facing criminal record discrimination. The authors analyzed the responses of 168 people with felony records who completed a nationwide, online survey. While controlling for several other potentially impactful variables, the authors used regression analyses to explore the relationship between criminal record discrimination and reported healthy days per month and whether social support protectively moderated this relationship. There was a significant negative association between criminal record discrimination and healthy days among those with notably low social support. Meanwhile, moderate levels of social support appeared to protectively extinguish this relationship. This study suggests that social support may influence whether criminal record discrimination negatively impacts health.

A pilot randomized controlled trial of medication adherence therapy: Psychosocial leverage using a significant other (MAT-PLUS) for individuals on extended-release naltrexone.

BACKGROUND: Extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) is an important treatment option for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) and/or alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, problems with retention are a major barrier to its overall effectiveness, and interventions to improve adherence are underdeveloped. The purpose of this study was to pilot test the MAT-PLUS intervention, which combines assertive outreach and involvement of a treatment significant other (TSO) to improve adherence to XR-NTX. METHODS: Adults (N = 41) seeking treatment for OUD and/or AUD with XR-NTX were recruited from an inpatient addiction treatment center and randomized to the MAT-PLUS intervention or treatment as usual (TAU) for 16-weeks. TSOs (N = 19) of individuals in the MAT-PLUS condition were also enrolled. The primary outcome was the number of XR-NTX doses received and relapse to regular heavy use (opioid or alcohol) was a secondary outcome. RESULTS: Participants in the MAT-PLUS group received 3.4 doses compared to 2.5 in TAU, which was significant after controlling for SUD diagnosis (p < 0.05). Rates of receipts of all prescribed doses were 61.1 % in MAT-PLUS compared to 30.4 % in TAU, giving an NNT of 3.3. Relapse rates and days of heavy use did not vary by treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates preliminary efficacy of the MAT-PLUS intervention for XR-NTX adherence. This study was limited by its small sample size and future research should broaden the intervention to apply across medications for SUD in larger samples. Family support with an emphasis on medication adherence has strong potential for improving addiction treatment outcomes.