Turn on, Tune in, and Drop out: Predictors of Attrition in a Prospective Observational Cohort Study on Psychedelic Use (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND The resurgence of research and public interest in the positive psychological effects of psychedelics, together with advancements in digital data collection techniques, have brought forth a new type of research design, gathering large-scale naturalistic data from psychedelic users prospectively, i.e. before and after use of a psychedelic compound. A methodological limitation of such studies is their high attrition rate, caused by participants who stop responding after initial study enrolment. Importantly, study dropout can introduce systematic biases that may affect the interpretability of results. OBJECTIVE Based on a previously collected sample (N=654), we here investigated potential determinants of study attrition in prospective psychedelic online research. METHODS Logistic regression models were used to examine demographic, psychological trait and state, and psychedelic-specific predictors of dropout. Predictors were assessed 2 weeks before, one day after, and 2 weeks after the psychedelic experience, with attrition being defined as non-completion of the key endpoint 4 weeks post experience. RESULTS Predictors of attrition were found among demographic variables, including age and educational level, as well as personality traits, specifically low conscientiousness and high extraversion. Contrary to prior hypotheses, neither baseline attitudes towards psychedelics nor the intensity of acute challenging experiences were predictive of dropout. CONCLUSIONS . Baseline predictors of attrition identified here are consistent with those found in longitudinal studies from other scientific disciplines, suggesting their transdisciplinary relevance. Moreover, the lack of an association between attrition and psychedelic advocacy or negative drug experiences in the present sample contextualises concerns about problematic biases in these and related data.

Validation of the Psychological Insight Scale: A new scale to assess psychological insight following a psychedelic experience

“…Greater efforts should be made in future studies to both minimise attrition rates and assess what factors are contributing to them, as done here ( Hübner et al, 2021 ). Fortunately, initial explorations of potential attrition bias in the present datasets have generally been reassuring.…”

Adverse experiences resulting in emergency medical treatment seeking following the use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

“…In addition, the survey by Haijen et al (2018) was prospective and only recruited people planning to take a psychedelic in the near future – therefore presumably less likely than our retrospective study to reach participants who, potentially due to their previous adverse experiences, hold more negative attitudes towards psychedelics and do not plan to take them again. It is also reassuring that neither baseline attitudes towards psychedelics nor the intensity of challenging psychedelic experiences predicted subsequent dropout rates of the same survey (Hübner et al, 2020). Theoretically this could apply to concerns regarding potential differences between those GDS respondents who choose to respond and finish all psychedelic-related sections and questions and those who do not.…”

Sustained, Multifaceted Improvements in Mental Well-Being Following Psychedelic Experiences in a Prospective Opportunity Sample

“…This question is important, not least because of considerations of efficiency in the design of future studies, where, for example, the number of questionnaires could be reduced to just a few, sensitive but sufficiently orthogonal and therefore complementary ones. This issue is particularly relevant in prospective web-based surveys where high attrition rates due to participant burden are a common problem ( 84 , 106 ).…”