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Validation of the revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in experimental sessions with psilocybin
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The 30-item revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30) was previously developed within an online survey of mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin-containing mushrooms. The rated experiences occurred on average eight years before completion of the questionnaire. The current paper validates the MEQ30 using data from experimental studies with controlled doses of psilocybin. Data were pooled and analyzed from five laboratory experiments in which participants ( n=184) received a moderate to high oral dose of psilocybin (at least 20 mg/70 kg). Results of confirmatory factor analysis demonstrate the reliability and internal validity of the MEQ30. Structural equation models demonstrate the external and convergent validity of the MEQ30 by showing that latent variable scores on the MEQ30 positively predict persisting change in attitudes, behavior, and well-being attributed to experiences with psilocybin while controlling for the contribution of the participant-rated intensity of drug effects. These findings support the use of the MEQ30 as an efficient measure of individual mystical experiences. A method to score a “complete mystical experience” that was used in previous versions of the mystical experience questionnaire is validated in the MEQ30, and a stand-alone version of the MEQ30 is provided for use in future research.
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“One such is the Revised MEQ30, developed by MacLean et al. (2012) (MacLean et al., 2012) from analyses of retrospective online surveys of mystical experiences occasioned by recreative use of psychedelics, assessed with the original MEQ-43 (Barrett et al., 2015; MacLean et al., 2012).”
From Assessment of the acute subjective psychedelic experience: A review of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical research on classical psychedelics (2024) · cites this paper as Barrett et al., 2015
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“she scored >60% on each of the seven subscales of the mystical experience questionnaire, indicating a “complete mystical experience” (20)”
From Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine dependence: a case report involving daily methamphetamine use (2024) · cites this paper as [20]
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“According to the MEQ-30, 11 of 14 participants (78%) reported a 'complete mystical experience', defined as achieving at least 60% of the maximum score in each subdomain [50] (Figure 4).”
From Psilocybin‐assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder: A pilot open‐label safety and feasibility study. (2025) · cites this paper as [50]
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Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Carducci, M. A., Umbricht, A., Richards, W. A., Richards, B. D., Cosimano, M. P., & Klinedinst, M. A. (2016) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881116675513 · Cited by 2,201
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Metadata
- Authors
- Barrett, F. S., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Barrett, Frederick S
- Venue
- Journal of Psychopharmacology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-10-06
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1182-1190
- ISSN
- 0269-8811 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7285
- PMC
- PMC5203697
- OpenAlex
- W2340085151
- Cited by
- 637
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 91 · 2025: 110 · 2024: 123 · 2023: 78 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 12
- FWCI
- 21.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA003889, T32DA007209, R01DA03889)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- psilocybin, mystical experience, psychedelic drug effects, questionnaire validation, factor structure, convergent validity, attitude change, well-being
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Oral, Hallucinogens, Humans, Mysticism, Psilocybin, Surveys and Questionnaires
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