Examining attitudes to psilocybin: Should candidates for medical psilocybin be required to pass a contextual suitability test
OpenAlex – November 23, 2021
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Personal factors significantly predict attitudes toward psilocybin, a potent hallucinogen, in drug studies. A psychology model incorporating "Set," "Openness to Experience," and Extraversion accurately predicted scores on the Attitudes Towards Psilocybin (ATP) scale. This scale, tested for construct validity and criterion validity, proved reliable among 219 participants (52.1% having used psychedelics). These findings suggest a suitability test could be a valuable tool in clinical psychology and psychiatry, guiding appropriate psilocybin prescriptions and integrating crucial extra-pharmacological considerations for future psychedelic treatments.
Abstract
Background: Due to increasing evidence of efficacy in treating mental health disorders, psilocybin may become a legal medicinal drug. This study tested the validity of Carhart-Harris & Nutt (2017) model of extra-pharmacological (EP) factors and examined whether such factors should be taken into account in any psychological suitability test for medicinally prescribed psilocybin. Method: 219 participants (101 self-identified females, 109 males, 7 non-binary people and 2 who preferred not to say), with an age range of 18 to 68, completed three online measures of ‘personality’; ‘set, setting and intention’, and the ‘Attitudes Towards Psilocybin’ (ATP) scale. The sample was equally divided between those who had used psychedelics (52.1%) and those who had no previous psychedelic use (47.5%). A series of stepwise linear regressions were run to examine of extra-pharmcological factor predictors of ATP. Results: The ATP scale was tested in terms of its reliability, construct validity, determinant validity and was deemed an appropriate measure. A model consisting of Set, Openness to Experience and Extraversion significantly predicted ATP scores. Conclusion: These findings supported the EP model and suggest that a suitability test may be a useful tool when determining whether a prescription of psilocybin is an appropriate course of treatment.