Ayahuasca in adolescence: Qaualitative results.

In Brazil, adolescents who consume ayahuasca as part of the União do Vegetal religion appear to be healthy, thoughtful, considerate, and strongly bonded to their families and religious peers, based on qualitative comparisons with non-using peers. The study examined 28 ayahuasca-consuming teens and 28 non-users, using vignettes to measure moral and ethical concerns. The findings suggest that, within a legal, structured religious context with elder facilitation, ayahuasca-using youth do not differ from their non-using counterparts in these qualitative measures. This work helps clarify the effects of hallucinogenic plant use in a socially sanctioned setting.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Qualitative research was conducted in Brazil among 28 ayahuasca-consuming adolescents members of the União do Vegetal Church, and 28 adolescents who never used ayahuasca. They were compared on a number of qualitative variables, including vignettes measuring moral and ethical concerns. Psychocultural studies utilizing co-occurences of variables in the realm of qualitative studies are useful in understanding and complementing quantitative studies also conducted among this population. Qualitative data show that the teens in the União do Vegetal religion appear to be healthy, thoughtful, considerate and bonded to their families and religious peers. This study examines the modern use of a powerful hallucinogenic compound within a legal religious context, and the youth who participated in these ayahuasca religious ceremonies (usually with parents and other family members) appeared not to differ from their nonayahuasca-using peers. This study helps to elucidate the full range of effects of plant hallucinogenic use within a socially-sanctioned, elder-facilitated and structured religious context.