Mitigating the Impact of Stigma and Shame Among People Living With HIV and Substance Use Disorders

Conditions

• Hiv
• Substance Use Disorders

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Matter Intervention — BEHAVIORAL
  This 5-session text-enhanced intervention is designed to mitigate the negative behavioral consequences of internalized stigma and shame among individuals with SUDs that perpetuate sub-optimal engagement in HIV self-care and consequently inconsistent viral suppression. The intervention involves five virtually delivered one-on-one therapy sessions focused on behavioral goal setting skill development and related self-efficacy, increasing meta-cognitive awareness (i.e., non-judgmental awareness of emotions and cognitions), and teaching and reinforcing compassionate self-restructuring (i.e., self-compassion). Participants also receive daily text messages querying emotions during the one-on-one portion of the intervention. For eight weeks after the one-on-one portion, participants receive their compassionate self-statements via text in response to their indicated emotions. Participants will also receive phone-based resource navigation, as needed.
• Control Condition — BEHAVIORAL
  The control condition will involve five sessions of prerecorded asynchronous content related to local resources (e.g., information related to substance use treatment and other ancillary services).

Study Details

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 Dates

Start date

Mar 12, 2025

Status verified

May 2026

Primary completion

Jun 30, 2028

Completion

Jun 30, 2028

Study Design

Enrollment

256 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Experimental: Matter Intervention
  This 5-session text-enhanced intervention is designed to mitigate the negative behavioral consequences of internalized stigma and shame among individuals with SUDs that perpetuate sub-optimal engagement in HIV self-care and consequently inconsistent viral suppression. The intervention involves five virtually delivered one-on-one therapy sessions focused on behavioral goal setting skill development and related self-efficacy, increasing meta-cognitive awareness (i.e., non-judgmental awareness of emotions and cognitions), and teaching and reinforcing compassionate self-restructuring (i.e., self-compassion). Participants also receive daily text messages querying emotions during the one-on-one portion of the intervention. For eight weeks after the one-on-one portion, participants receive their compassionate self-statements via text in response to their indicated emotions. Participants will also receive phone-based resource navigation, as needed.
• Active Comparator: Control Condition
  The control condition will involve five sessions of prerecorded asynchronous content related to local resources (e.g., information related to substance use treatment and other ancillary services).

Primary Outcome Measure

Viral Suppression at 12 month follow-up [ Time Frame: 12 month follow up ]

Central Contacts

• Abigail Batchelder, PhD, MPH
  6173587640
  [email protected]
• Alexandria Miller, PhD
  [email protected]

Locations (2)

Find similar trials in Miami, FL

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