Mitigating PTSD-CUD After Sexual Assault

683,000 women are sexually assaulted annually in the United States, half of whom develop chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and thus have markedly increased risk for cannabis use disorder (CUD). The current proposal will test the acceptability, initial efficacy, and mechanisms underlying a novel digital therapeutic targeting risk for PTSD-CUD, which could address the critical need for PTSD-CUD prevention for the 100,000 women who annually present for emergency care after sexual assault. In this research context, the applicant will receive key training in multisite, emergency-care based randomized clinical trials (RCTs), advanced statistical analyses for RCTs and ecological momentary assessment data, biobehavioral mechanisms underlying PTSD-CUD prevention, and professional development, launching her independent research career focused on reducing the public health burden of PTSD-CUD among sexual assault survivors by leveraging digital therapeutics.

NCT Number	NCT05989841
Lead Sponsor	University of Nevada, Las Vegas Collaborators: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Hennepin HART, Tulsa Police Department Forensic Nursing, SAFE Austin Harbor Shelter
Conditions	Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Cannabis Use Disorder
Enrollment	68 participants
Start Date	2024-03-14
Primary Completion	2027-02-28 (estimated)
Study Completion	2028-02-29 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-01-16