Moment-by-Moment in Women's Recovery: Randomized controlled trial protocol to test the efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention on treatment retention and relapse prevention among women in residential treatment for substance use disorder

Although therapeutic treatments exist for substance use disorder (SUD), about half of individuals who enter treatment leave early and relapse to substance use. Early dropout from residential treatment places individuals at risk of relapse, and women in SUD residential treatment represent a vulnerable population. Evidence gaps persist for the use of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) among racially and ethnically diverse women with SUDs, especially regarding the efficacy of MBIs adapted to prevent residential dropout and relapse. We previously developed and pilot tested an MBI, Moment-by-Moment in Women's Recovery (MMWR), adapted to support women with SUD during residential treatment. The 12-session MMWR program tested in the present study integrates relapse prevention, addresses literacy level and trauma experiences and mental health problems, and is relevant to issues surrounding treatment- and relapse-related stressors among women. The primary objective of the current Phase II randomized controlled trial is to adequately test the efficacy of MMWR on residential treatment retention and substance use relapse and determine psychosocial and neural mechanisms of action underlying MMWR. Participants are women in residential SUD treatment from a community-based residential site that serves mainly women who are low-income and racially and ethnically diverse. A subgroup of participants from each treatment group also completes functional and structural neuroimaging assessments before and after the intervention to explore possible structural and functional brain correlates of change associated with participation in the MMWR program. Findings are expected to inform the utility of adapting MBIs to improve treatment success among vulnerable women in SUD residential treatment.