OBJECTIVE Medications for opioid use disorder (OUD or MOUD) treatment combining pharmacotherapy with psychosocial support are effective for managing OUD. However, treatment engagement remains a challenge, with retention rates ∼30%-50%. Although social connection has been identified as important to recovery, it remains unclear whether and how social factors can bolster participation in treatment. METHOD Individuals receiving MOUD at three outpatient treatment programs (N = 82) and healthy community controls (N = 62) completed validated measures assessing social connection including (a) size, diversity, and embeddedness of social networks; (b) perceived social support and criticism within familial relationships; and (c) subjective social status. For those receiving MOUD, we also examined how aspects of social connection related to opioid (re)use and treatment engagement (medication adherence, group, and individual meeting attendance) assessed over ∼8 weeks/person. RESULTS Compared to controls, individuals receiving MOUD had smaller and less diverse and embedded social networks (Cohen's d > 0.4), and despite similar levels of perceived social support (d = 0.02), reported higher levels of social criticism (d = 0.6) and lower subjective social status (d = 0.5). Within the MOUD group, higher social network indices correlated specifically with higher therapeutic group attendance (Rs > 0.30), but not medication adherence, while higher levels of perceived criticism correlated with more frequent opioid use (R = 0.23). Results were mostly robust to control for sociodemographic variables, psychological distress/COVID-19, and treatment duration, but differed by MOUD type/program. CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight the potential importance of assessing an individual's social capital, promoting positive social connection, and continuing to assess the implementation and value of psychosocial support in MOUD treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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社会联系在阿片类药物使用障碍治疗参与中的作用。

目的 将药物治疗与社会心理支持相结合的阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD 或 MOUD）治疗药物可有效控制 OUD。然而，治疗参与度仍然是一个挑战，保留率约为 30%-50%。尽管社会联系已被认为对康复很重要，但仍不清楚社会因素是否以及如何促进治疗参与。方法 在三个门诊治疗项目中接受 MOUD 的个人 (N = 82) 和健康社区对照 (N = 62) 完成了评估社会联系的有效措施，包括 (a) 社交网络的规模、多样性和嵌入性；(b) 在家庭关系中感受到的社会支持和批评；(c) 主观社会地位。对于那些收到 MOUD 的人来说，我们还研究了如何在约 8 周/人的时间内评估与阿片类药物（重复）使用和治疗参与（药物依从性、团体和个人会议出席）相关的社会关系方面。结果 与对照组相比，接受 MOUD 的个体的社交网络规模较小、多样性较低且嵌入性较差（Cohen's d > 0.4），尽管感知到的社会支持水平相似（d = 0.02），但报告的社会批评水平较高（d = 0.6）和主观社会地位较低（d = 0.5）。在 MOUD 组中，较高的社交网络指数与较高的治疗小组出勤率相关（Rs > 0.30），但与药物依从性无关，而较高水平的感知批评与更频繁的阿片类药物使用相关（R = 0.23）。结果对于控制社会人口统计学变量来说大多是稳健的，心理困扰/COVID-19 和治疗持续时间，但因 MOUD 类型/项目而异。结论 这些发现强调了评估个人社会资本、促进积极的社会联系以及继续评估 MOUD 治疗中心理社会支持的实施和价值的潜在重要性。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。