Mitigating the Impact of Stigma and Shame Among People Living With HIV and Substance Use Disorders
Recruiting now · Not applicable · Has a placebo group
Conditions studied: Hiv, Substance Use Disorders
In brief
People living with HIV and substance use disorders (SUDs) are less likely to be virally suppressed, which can lead to HIV transmission and negative health outcomes. This hybrid type 1 study will assess the efficacy, mechanisms, as well as facilitators and barriers to implementing the MATTER intervention, a virtually delivered 5-session text-enhanced psychobehavioral intervention designed to facilitate viral suppression by addressing internalized stigma and shame as barriers to engagement in HIV care among individuals living with HIV and SUDs in two locations with different levels of HIV resources (i.e., the Boston, Massachusetts and Miami, Florida metro areas). MATTER aims to mitigate the negative behavioral consequences of internalized stigma and shame on viral suppression by a) developing behavioral self-care goal setting skills and related self-efficacy, b) increasing metacognitive awareness (i.e., non-judgmental awareness of emotions and cognitions), and c) teaching and reinforcing compassionate self-restructuring (i.e., self- compassion), in addition to providing access to phone-based resource navigation. Scalable interventions such as MATTER are essential to our efforts to end the HIV epidemic in high priority regions.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT05934305
- Run by
- Boston University
- People needed
- 256
- Starts
- 2025-03-12
- Expected to finish
- 2028-06-30
- Last updated by the study team
- 2026-06-23
Who can join
Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- HIV+
- Meet criteria for an illicit (not solely including tobacco, cannabis, or alcohol) SUD
- Endorse internalized stigma related to HIV, substance use, sexual orientation, or gender-identity
- Either the participant reports a detectable viral load during past year OR if on oral ART, they report <80% adherence in the past month OR if on oral ART, they report missing >=7 days of ART in any month in the past year OR for those on long acting injectable (LAI) ART, they report a period of >=14 days in the past year between LAI ART injections OR has a detectable HIV viral load (>20 copies/ mL) in the past year confirmed by medical records or viral load test from blood drawn obtained as part of the baseline visit
- Provide informed consent in English
- Verbally communicate and read in English or Spanish
- Be ≥18 years old
- Provide evidence or documentation of HIV+ status
- Release HIV-related health records
- Have access to a cell phone with text capacity (study will supplement phones and plans as needed consistent with our pilot work).
You may not qualify if…
- HIV-
Where it is running
- Florida International University — Miami, Florida, United States (enrolling)
- Fenway Health — Boston, Massachusetts, United States (enrolling)
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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