Kettner H, Rosas F E, Timmermann C, Kärtner L, Carhart-Harris R L, Roseman L
Centre for Psychedelic Research, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Front Pharmacol. 2021 Mar 25;12:623985. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.623985. eCollection 2021.
Recent years have seen a resurgence of research on the potential of psychedelic substances to treat addictive and mood disorders. Historically and contemporarily, psychedelic studies have emphasized the importance of contextual elements ('set and setting') in modulating acute drug effects, and ultimately, influencing long-term outcomes. Nevertheless, current small-scale clinical and laboratory studies have tended to bypass a ubiquitous contextual feature of naturalistic psychedelic use: its social dimension. This study introduces and psychometrically validates an adapted assessing acute relational experiences of perceived togetherness and shared humanity, in order to investigate psychosocial mechanisms pertinent to psychedelic ceremonies and retreats. In this observational, web-based survey study, participants ( = 886) were measured across five successive time-points: 2 weeks before, hours before, and the day after a psychedelic ceremony; as well as the day after, and 4 weeks after leaving the ceremony location. Demographics, psychological traits and state variables were assessed pre-ceremony, in addition to changes in psychological wellbeing and social connectedness from before to after the retreat, as primary outcomes. Using correlational and multiple regression (path) analyses, predictive relationships between psychosocial 'set and setting' variables, communitas, and long-term outcomes were explored. The adapted Communitas Scale demonstrated substantial internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92) and construct validity in comparison with validated measures of intra-subjective (visual, mystical, challenging experiences questionnaires) and inter-subjective (perceived emotional synchrony, identity fusion) experiences. Furthermore, communitas during ceremony was significantly correlated with increases in psychological wellbeing ( = 0.22), social connectedness ( = 0.25), and other salient mental health outcomes. Path analyses revealed that the effect of ceremony-communitas on long-term outcomes was fully mediated by communitas experienced in reference to the retreat overall, and that the extent of personal sharing or 'self-disclosure' contributed to this process. A positive relationship between participants and facilitators, and the perceived impact of emotional support, facilitated the emergence of communitas. Highlighting the importance of intersubjective experience, rapport, and emotional support for long-term outcomes of psychedelic use, this first quantitative examination of psychosocial factors in guided psychedelic settings is a significant step toward evidence-based benefit-maximization guidelines for collective psychedelic use.
近年来，关于迷幻物质治疗成瘾和情绪障碍潜力的研究再度兴起。从历史到现在，迷幻研究一直强调情境因素（“心态与环境”）在调节药物急性效应以及最终影响长期结果方面的重要性。然而，当前的小规模临床和实验室研究往往忽略了自然主义迷幻使用中一个普遍存在的情境特征：其社会维度。本研究引入并通过心理测量学验证了一种经过改编的量表，用于评估感知到的团聚和共享人性的急性关系体验，以调查与迷幻仪式和静修相关的心理社会机制。在这项基于网络的观察性调查研究中，参与者（(n = 886)）在五个连续的时间点进行测量：迷幻仪式前2周、前数小时、仪式后当天；以及离开仪式地点后的当天和4周后。除了作为主要结果的静修前后心理健康和社会联系的变化外，还在仪式前评估了人口统计学、心理特征和状态变量。使用相关分析和多元回归（路径）分析，探讨了心理社会“心态与环境”变量、交融感与长期结果之间的预测关系。与经过验证的主观内（视觉、神秘、挑战性体验问卷）和主观间（感知到的情感同步、身份融合）体验测量相比，改编后的交融感量表显示出较高的内部一致性（克朗巴哈α系数 = 0.92）和结构效度。此外，仪式期间的交融感与心理健康的改善（(r = 0.22)）、社会联系的增强（(r = 0.25)）以及其他显著的心理健康结果显著相关。路径分析表明，仪式 - 交融感对长期结果的影响完全由总体静修中体验到的交融感介导，并且个人分享或“自我表露”的程度促成了这一过程。参与者与引导者之间的积极关系以及情感支持的感知影响，促进了交融感的出现。这项对引导性迷幻情境中心理社会因素的首次定量研究强调了主观间体验、融洽关系和情感支持对迷幻使用长期结果的重要性，是朝着基于证据的集体迷幻使用效益最大化指南迈出的重要一步。
