URochester-led study aims to improve addiction treatment for couples

Up to half of people with a drug use disorder also have a partner struggling with addiction, yet most treatment programs are designed for one person at a time.

A study led by the University of Rochester School of Nursing is introducing a novel treatment aiming to improve recovery outcomes for couples in which both partners have a drug use disorder (DUD), addressing a major gap in addiction care.

The five-year $2.4M study is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse through a phased R61/R33 award.

“For many people, addiction doesn’t happen in isolation,” said Professor and Endowed Chair for Innovation in Healthcare Jim McMahon, PhD, the study’s contact principal investigator. “Our study is about developing and testing a treatment program that these couples can engage in together to leverage their mutual support for recovery.”

The need for couples-based addiction treatment programs is significant. Couples with dual DUDs face poorer treatment outcomes, including higher relapse rates and lower treatment engagement, compared to individuals without a partner who also uses drugs. The reciprocal influence of partners on each other’s substance use is well-documented, but treatments remain predominantly individual-focused, overlooking the relational context in which substance use and recovery take place.

Overall, drug addiction remains a major public health problem in the U.S., with more than 100,000 overdose deaths nationally each year, and high relapse rates among people who enter treatment.

Researchers will work directly with couples — especially those who are affected by opioids or stimulants — as well as treatment providers and administrators to create an approach that reflects real-life needs and can work effectively in outpatient treatment settings. A pilot of the treatment intervention will be introduced here in Rochester, and in Newark, New Jersey.

“The big idea is that if partners can reinforce each other’s substance use, they may also be able to support each other’s recovery,” McMahon said. “We hope this fills an important treatment gap and ultimately helps more couples build lasting recovery together.”

Collaborators on the study include co-principal investigator Janie Simmons, EdD, ethnographer and research scientist at the National Development and Research Institutes-USA; Gamji Rabiu Abu-Ba’are, PhD, MA, Harriet J. Kitzman Endowed Fellow in Global Health Research and assistant professor at the School of Nursing; Caroline Easton, PhD, division chief of addiction psychiatry at University of Rochester Medical Center; Luther Elliott, PhD, associate research scientist at the New York University School of Global Public Health; and Robert Granfield, PhD, professor of sociology and criminology at the University at Buffalo.

Visit Strong Recovery or call (585) 275-3161 to learn more about local treatment programs for substance use. Learn more about research at the School of Nursing.