NLP Analysis of Weekly Narratives for Dynamic Clinical Assessment in SUD
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot listed
Trial typeObservational
Biological sexMale
Age18+
SponsorLauro Gutiérrez Castro
About this trial
This prospective observational study follows adults undergoing residential rehabilitation for severe substance use disorders at a specialized treatment center in Mexico. Participants provide weekly written narratives describing their emotions, challenges, coping strategies, and treatment experiences, and complete validated psychological questionnaires every two weeks, including the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Environmental Reward Observation Scale (EROS), Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-8 (ATQ-8), and Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS).
The study applies natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning methods to analyze participants' narratives and identify emotional, cognitive, and behavioral patterns associated with clinical change over time. Narrative-derived features are combined with questionnaire scores to generate a dynamic clinical risk representation that may help detect early signs of psychological worsening or improvement during residential treatment.
Participants continue receiving standard residential care, and the study does not modify treatment decisions or clinical interventions. Up to 35 participants with sufficient longitudinal follow-up data will be included in the primary analysis. Data collection is expected to continue through September 2026.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Clinical diagnosis of severe substance use disorder (polydrug use, including cocaine, methamphetamines, alcohol, and/or cannabis), confirmed by the center's admission assessment.
Male sex (all participants in the center's residential program are male).
Age 18 years or older.
Current resident of the participating residential rehabilitation center in Mexico.
Disqualifiers
Presence of acute psychotic symptoms that interfere with the ability to write or understand the study procedures.
Severe cognitive impairment (e.g., due to traumatic brain injury, intellectual disability) that prevents meaningful narrative production.
Inability to comply with weekly narrative writing (e.g., illiteracy, severe visual impairment).
Planned discharge from the residential program within less than 4 weeks from enrollment.
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Residential rehabilitation as usual
Treatment groups
35 Participants
are divided into 1 treatment groupSponsors and collaborators
Lauro Gutiérrez Castro
Lead sponsor
Under The Tree Therapeutic Community
Sponsor institution
Source ClinicalTrials.gov