The Acceptance/Avoidance-Promoting Experiences Questionnaire (APEQ): A theory-based approach to psychedelic drugs’ effects on psychological flexibility

M. Wolff, L. Mertens, M. Walter, S. Enge, R. Evens
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引用次数: 13

Abstract

Background: Many benefits and some harms associated with psychedelic use could be attributable to these drugs’ acceptance/avoidance-promoting effects and corresponding changes in psychological flexibility. Underlying psychological mechanisms are insufficiently understood. Aim: The purpose of this study was the validation of a psychological model of acceptance/avoidance-promoting psychedelic experiences, which included the development of a theory-based self-report instrument: the Acceptance/Avoidance-Promoting Experiences Questionnaire (APEQ). Its two main scales, acceptance-related experience (ACE) and avoidance-related experience (AVE), represent the theorized model’s core constructs. We aimed to test the model’s central assumptions of complementarity (ACE and AVE may occur alternatingly but not simultaneously, and are therefore empirically independent), intertwinedness (subaspects within ACE and AVE are mutually contingent and therefore highly inter-correlated), context-dependence (ACE and AVE depend on context factors) and interaction (longer-term outcomes depend on the interplay between ACE and AVE). Method: A bilingual retrospective online survey including 997 English- and 836 German-speaking participants. Each participant reported on one psychedelic experience occasioned by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, mescaline, or ayahuasca. Results: Whereas ACE and AVE were found to be relatively independent aspects of participants’ reported psychedelic experiences (complementarity), their subaspects were mostly distinguishable but strongly correlated among each other (intertwinedness). Therapeutic, escapist, and hedonic use motives were differentially associated with ACE and AVE (context-dependence), which were in turn associated with retrospective changes in psychological flexibility following participants’ reported experiences. The positive association between ACE and increased psychological flexibility was significantly moderated by AVE (interaction). Conclusion: These results provide an initial validation of the APEQ and its underlying theoretical model, suggesting the two can help clarify the psychological mechanisms of psychedelic-induced benefits and harms. Both should be further investigated in prospective-longitudinal and clinical studies.
接受/回避-促进经验问卷:基于理论的迷幻药物对心理灵活性影响的研究方法
背景:与迷幻药使用相关的许多益处和一些危害可归因于这些药物的接受/避免促进作用和相应的心理灵活性变化。潜在的心理机制还没有得到充分的了解。目的:本研究的目的是验证一种促进接受/回避的迷幻体验心理模型,包括开发一种基于理论的自我报告工具:接受/回避-促进体验问卷(APEQ)。它的两个主要量表,接受相关经验(ACE)和回避相关经验(AVE),代表了理论化模型的核心结构。我们旨在检验模型的核心假设:互补性(ACE和AVE可能交替发生,但不是同时发生,因此在经验上是独立的)、交织性(ACE和AVE中的子方面是相互偶然的,因此高度相互关联)、情境依赖性(ACE和AVE取决于情境因素)和相互作用(长期结果取决于ACE和AVE之间的相互作用)。方法:一项包括997名英语和836名德语参与者的双语回顾性在线调查。每个参与者都报告了一次由麦角酸二乙胺(LSD)、裸盖菇素、美斯卡灵或死藤水引起的迷幻体验。结果:ACE和AVE是参与者报告的迷幻体验的相对独立的方面(互补性),它们的子方面大多是可区分的,但彼此之间有很强的相关性(交织性)。治疗性、逃避性和享乐性使用动机与ACE和AVE(情境依赖)存在差异,而ACE和AVE(情境依赖)反过来又与参与者报告经历后心理灵活性的回顾性变化相关。ACE与心理灵活性增加之间的正相关被AVE(交互作用)显著调节。结论:这些结果初步验证了APEQ及其潜在的理论模型,表明两者有助于阐明致幻剂诱导的利弊心理机制。这两者都应该在前瞻性纵向研究和临床研究中进一步研究。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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