Development of the Psychological Insight Questionnaire among a sample of people who have consumed psilocybin or LSD
Journal of Psychopharmacology January 9, 2021 Alan K Davis, Frederick S Barrett, Sara So et al. 166 citations
A new questionnaire, the Psychological Insight Questionnaire, was developed to measure psychologically insightful experiences during psychedelic use. Among 1,661 psilocybin and LSD users, the 23-item measure showed two subscales: Avoidance and Maladaptive Patterns Insights and Goals and Adaptive Patterns Insights. Scores correlated strongly with an existing insight measure and moderately with mystical and challenging experience questionnaires. They also correlated with retrospectively reported increases in psychological flexibility, well-being, and life satisfaction attributed to a memorable psychedelic experience. The questionnaire predicted unique variance in these outcomes beyond mystical and challenging effects, suggesting it may help understand how psychological insight contributes to psychedelics' enduring effects.