Attitudes Towards Psilocybin: The Relationship Between Knowledge, Experience, and Opinions of Psilocybin and Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy
Location
D.P. Culp Center Ballroom
Start Date
4-5-2024 9:00 AM
End Date
4-5-2024 11:30 AM
Poster Number
179
Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor
Joy Drinnon
Faculty Sponsor's Department
Psychology
Competition Type
Competitive
Type
Poster Presentation
Presentation Category
Social Sciences
Abstract or Artist's Statement
Psilocybin-assisted therapy has been identified as a potential treatment in healthcare and has shown success in treating patients diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Ehrmann et al., 2021; Moreno et al., 2006), major depressive disorder (Carhart-Harris et al., 2016; Carhart-Harris et al., 2017; Lyons & Carhart-Harris, 2018; Carhart-Harris et al., 2021; Daws et al., 2022; Zeiss et al., 2021), suicidality (Hendricks et al., 2015), alcohol dependency (Bogenschutz et al., 2015) tobacco dependency (Johnson et al., 2014), and even anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer (Griffiths et al., 2011; Grob et al., 2011; Ross et al., 2016),. As more research about the effectiveness of psilocybin as a treatment emerges, it is essential to understand what opinions and attitudes are held about this medication. To address this gap in the literature, I set out to understand what relationship, if any, one’s previous experience and knowledge have with their attitudes towards psilocybin and psilocybin-assisted therapy. To gain insight into the general population’s opinions, an anonymous 40-item Qualtrics survey was distributed through multiple online platforms (i.e., social media, Mechanical Turk, Reddit, and the Social Psych Network). In this IRB-approved study, 235 participants from the United States responded to 12 demographic items and four items related to the participant’s perceived knowledge and experience with psilocybin. Participants were also asked to identify their personal (recreational or therapeutic) experiences with nine different psychedelics. Regarding knowledge, participants were asked about how much knowledge they had on the subject using a 5-point Likert scale. Additionally, participants were asked about the origins of such knowledge and whether that knowledge was presented positively or negatively. Attitudes towards psilocybin were measured using a modified version of the Attitudes on Psychedelics Questionnaire (APQ) developed by Žuljević et al. (2022). The scale was modified to use the word “psilocybin” in place of “psychedelic” to specifically learn about attitudes towards psilocybin. Higher APQ scores reflect more positive attitudes towards psilocybin, with a minimum score of 20 and a maximum score of 100. The scale displays high internal consistency (α = 0.95). After data collection was complete, results were analyzed using SPSS. Analyses of the data have displayed highly significant results thus far. Previous experience with psychedelics, especially psilocybin, seems to be predictive of positive attitudes towards psilocybin. Those who have used psilocybin seem to have much higher opinions towards the drug (n = 105, m = 79.5), while those who have not used psilocybin display more negative attitudes towards its use as a treatment (n = 128, m = 66.4). Individuals who have learned about psilocybin from platforms that have displayed it in a negative light (n = 52, m = 58.7) seem to have a lower opinion of it.
Attitudes Towards Psilocybin: The Relationship Between Knowledge, Experience, and Opinions of Psilocybin and Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy
D.P. Culp Center Ballroom
Psilocybin-assisted therapy has been identified as a potential treatment in healthcare and has shown success in treating patients diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Ehrmann et al., 2021; Moreno et al., 2006), major depressive disorder (Carhart-Harris et al., 2016; Carhart-Harris et al., 2017; Lyons & Carhart-Harris, 2018; Carhart-Harris et al., 2021; Daws et al., 2022; Zeiss et al., 2021), suicidality (Hendricks et al., 2015), alcohol dependency (Bogenschutz et al., 2015) tobacco dependency (Johnson et al., 2014), and even anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer (Griffiths et al., 2011; Grob et al., 2011; Ross et al., 2016),. As more research about the effectiveness of psilocybin as a treatment emerges, it is essential to understand what opinions and attitudes are held about this medication. To address this gap in the literature, I set out to understand what relationship, if any, one’s previous experience and knowledge have with their attitudes towards psilocybin and psilocybin-assisted therapy. To gain insight into the general population’s opinions, an anonymous 40-item Qualtrics survey was distributed through multiple online platforms (i.e., social media, Mechanical Turk, Reddit, and the Social Psych Network). In this IRB-approved study, 235 participants from the United States responded to 12 demographic items and four items related to the participant’s perceived knowledge and experience with psilocybin. Participants were also asked to identify their personal (recreational or therapeutic) experiences with nine different psychedelics. Regarding knowledge, participants were asked about how much knowledge they had on the subject using a 5-point Likert scale. Additionally, participants were asked about the origins of such knowledge and whether that knowledge was presented positively or negatively. Attitudes towards psilocybin were measured using a modified version of the Attitudes on Psychedelics Questionnaire (APQ) developed by Žuljević et al. (2022). The scale was modified to use the word “psilocybin” in place of “psychedelic” to specifically learn about attitudes towards psilocybin. Higher APQ scores reflect more positive attitudes towards psilocybin, with a minimum score of 20 and a maximum score of 100. The scale displays high internal consistency (α = 0.95). After data collection was complete, results were analyzed using SPSS. Analyses of the data have displayed highly significant results thus far. Previous experience with psychedelics, especially psilocybin, seems to be predictive of positive attitudes towards psilocybin. Those who have used psilocybin seem to have much higher opinions towards the drug (n = 105, m = 79.5), while those who have not used psilocybin display more negative attitudes towards its use as a treatment (n = 128, m = 66.4). Individuals who have learned about psilocybin from platforms that have displayed it in a negative light (n = 52, m = 58.7) seem to have a lower opinion of it.