The DOI matches its Crossref record; 69 of the 69 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Development of the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS): A tool for measuring patient outcome expectancy in clinical trials
Abstract
Background: A patient’s response to treatment may be influenced by the expectations that the patient has before initiating treatment. In the context of clinical trials, the influence of participant expectancy may blur the distinction between real and sham treatments, reducing statistical power to detect specific treatment effects. There is therefore a need for a tool that prospectively predicts expectancy effects on treatment outcomes across a wide range of treatment modalities. Purpose: To help assess expectancy effects, we created the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS): an instrument for measuring positive and negative treatment expectancies. Internal reliability of the instrument was tested in Study 1. Criterion validity of the instrument (convergent, discriminant, and predictive) was assessed in Studies 2 and 3. Methods: The instrument was developed using 200 participants in Study 1. Reliability and validity assessments were made with an additional 423 participants in Studies 2 and 3. Results: The final six-item SETS contains two subscales: positive expectancy (α = 0.81–0.88) and negative expectancy (α = 0.81–0.86). The subscales predict a significant amount of outcome variance (between 12% and 18%) in patients receiving surgical and pain interventions. The SETS is simple to administer, score, and interpret. Conclusion: The SETS may be used in clinical trials to improve statistical sensitivity for detecting treatment differences or in clinical settings to identify patients with poor treatment expectancies.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Participants’ expectancy will be assessed with the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS; [114]) at baseline”
In the citing paper
“Secondary outcomes showed promising signs, although the openlabel design and small sample size means that the results must be interpreted in the context of treatment expectancy at baseline, in which positive effects were higher than average and negative effects were lower than average [41].”
From Psilocybin‐assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder: A pilot open‐label safety and feasibility study. (2025) · cites this paper as [41]
In the citing paper
“Valid measures of response expectancies include the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS), 87 and the credibility/expectancy questionnaire (CEQ). 88”
From Best Practice Recommendations for Conducting and Reporting Controlled Trials in Clinical Hypnosis Research (2024) · cites this paper as [87]
Citations
Cites
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
Zigmond, A. S., & Snaith, R. P. (1983) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1983.tb09716.x · Cited by 47,139
Research in Organizational Behavior.
Grimes, A. J., Cummings, L. L., & Staw, B. M. (1986) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2392975 · Cited by 11,303
(1976) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 8,899
Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.67.6.1063 · Cited by 7,456
Farrar, J. T., Young, J. P., LaMoreaux, L., Werth, J. L., & Poole, M. R. (2001) · Pain · doi:10.1016/s0304-3959(01)00349-9 · Cited by 5,808
Core outcome measures for chronic pain clinical trials: IMMPACT recommendations
Dworkin, R. H., Turk, D. C., Farrar, J. T., Haythornthwaite, J. A., Jensen, M. P., Katz, N. P., Kerns, R. D., Stucki, G., Allen, R. R., Bellamy, N., et al. (2005) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2004.09.012 · Cited by 3,732
Core outcome domains for chronic pain clinical trials: IMMPACT recommendations
Turk, D. C., Dworkin, R. H., Allen, R. R., Bellamy, N., Brandenburg, N., Carr, D. B., Cleeland, C., Dionne, R., Farrar, J. T., Galer, B. S., et al. (2003) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2003.08.001 · Cited by 3,510
Psychometric properties of the credibility/expectancy questionnaire
Devilly, G. J., & Borkovec, T. D. (2000) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0005-7916(00)00012-4 · Cited by 2,295 · cited 1×
“While the instrument has shown success in predicting some outcome variables [33], it is not clear that the instrument (particularly the credibility subscale) is a useful tool for predicting treatment response [34].”
MethodECDEU Assessment Manual: (591322011-001)
Guy, W. (1976) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e591322011-001 · Cited by 1,896
Credibility of analogue therapy rationales
Borkovec, T. D., & Nau, S. D. (1972) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/0005-7916(72)90045-6 · Cited by 1,553 · cited 1×
“An exception is the Credibility and Expectancy Scale, which was developed in 1972 by Borkovec and Nau [32].”
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Manchikanti L, 2011, Pain Physician, 14, E157
- Pogge RC, 1963, Med Times, 91, 773
- Mao J, 2010, Altern Ther Health Med, 16, 22
- 10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1024 · DOI · Paper page
- 10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1063 · DOI · Paper page
- Iverson S, 2008, J Am Osteopath Assoc, 108, 699
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Patient phenotyping in clinical trials of chronic pain treatments: IMMPACT recommendations
Edwards, R. R., Dworkin, R. H., Turk, D. C., Angst, M. S., Dionne, R., Freeman, R., Hansson, P., Haroutounian, S., Arendt-Nielsen, L., Attal, N., et al. (2016) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000602 · Cited by 403
Blinding and expectancy confounds in psychedelic randomized controlled trials
Muthukumaraswamy, S. D., Forsyth, A., & Lumley, T. (2021) · Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology · doi:10.1080/17512433.2021.1933434 · Cited by 324
Rossettini, G., Carlino, E., & Testa, M. (2018) · BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders · doi:10.1186/s12891-018-1943-8 · Cited by 337
“expectancy and negative expectancy), predicted a significant amount of outcome variance in patients receiving surgical and pain intervention [175].”
BackgroundAday, J. S., Heifets, B. D., Pratscher, S. D., Bradley, E., Rosen, R., & Woolley, J. D. (2022) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-022-06123-7 · Cited by 237
“2021) recommend the use of established measures of expectancy, such as the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (Younger et al. 2012), which is a valid and reliable measure of participants’ positive and negative treatment expectancies.”
Darnall, B. D., Roy, A., Chen, A. L., Ziadni, M. S., Keane, R. T., You, D. S., Slater, K., Poupore-King, H., Mackey, I., Kao, M.-C., et al. (2021) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13401 · Cited by 191
Self-citationIncreasing uncertainty in CNS clinical trials: the role of placebo, nocebo, and Hawthorne effects
Benedetti, F., Carlino, E., & Piedimonte, A. (2016) · The Lancet Neurology · doi:10.1016/s1474-4422(16)00066-1 · Cited by 190
Gukasyan, N., & Nayak, S. M. (2021) · Transcultural Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/1363461520983684 · Cited by 159
“The Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS) is another more recently created measure that could also be useful for examining expectancy (Younger et al., 2012).”
BackgroundVela, J., Dreyer, L., Petersen, K. K., Arendt‐Nielsen, L., Duch, K. S., & Kristensen, S. (2021) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002466 · Cited by 117
“Pre-treatment expe ctancy was quantified using the Stanford expectation of treatment scale (SETS)[49] quantifyi ng both positive and negative expectations of treatment on a scale from 0 to 21 were 21 indicates maximal positive or negative expectation.”
MethodInfluentialBeedie, C., Benedetti, F., Barbiani, D., Camerone, E. M., Cohen, E. E. A., Coleman, D. A., Davis, A., Elsworth-Edelsten, C., Flowers, E. P., Foad, A., et al. (2018) · European Journal of Sport Science · doi:10.1080/17461391.2018.1496144 · Cited by 106
Open‐Label, Non‐Mandatory Transitioning From Originator Etanercept to Biosimilar SB 4
Tweehuysen, L., Huiskes, V. J. B., van den Bemt, B. J. F., Vriezekolk, J. E., Teerenstra, S., van den Hoogen, F. H. J., van den Ende, C. H. M., & den Broeder, A. A. (2018) · Arthritis & Rheumatology · doi:10.1002/art.40516 · Cited by 98
“The set of questionnaires consisted of 2 questionnaires on treatment expectations (6-item Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire [CEQ] [18] and 6-item Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale [SETS] [19]), a questionnaire on beliefs about prescribed medication (10-item Beliefs about Medication Questionnaire [BMQ-Specifi…”
MethodAlberts, J., Löwe, B., Glahn, M. A., Petrie, K. J., Laferton, J. A. C., Nestoriuc, Y., & Mora, M. C. S. (2020) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036169 · Cited by 94
Mora, M. C. S., Alberts, J., Petrie, K. J., Laferton, J. A. C., von Blanckenburg, P., Kohlmann, S., Nestoriuc, Y., & Löwe, B. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0280472 · Cited by 86
“The fact that the benefit and harm expectation subscales were unrelated underpins the notion that positive and negative expectations are independent entities instead of one continuum [28].”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialNocebos in rheumatology: emerging concepts and their implications for clinical practice
Kravvariti, E., Kitas, G. D., Mitsikostas, D. D., & Sfikakis, P. P. (2018) · Nature Reviews Rheumatology · doi:10.1038/s41584-018-0110-9 · Cited by 80
Schindler, E. A. D., Sewell, R. A., Gottschalk, C. H., Luddy, C., Flynn, L. T., Zhu, Y., Lindsey, H. M., Pittman, B. P., Cozzi, N. V., & D’Souza, D. C. (2022) · Headache The Journal of Head and Face Pain · doi:10.1111/head.14420 · Cited by 85
“An interaction between drug and time was observed for MAP on all three test days (Day 1 F[21,317] = 2.”
BackgroundPerini, I., Kämpe, R., Arlestig, T., Karlsson, H., Löfberg, A., Pietrzak, M., Zangen, A., & Heilig, M. A. (2019) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/s41386-019-0565-7 · Cited by 74
“To assess whether participants believed they received active treatment or sham, participants completed the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS) [45].”
MethodInfluentialExpectancy Effects in Psychedelic Trials
Szigeti, B., & Heifets, B. D. (2024) · Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.02.004 · Cited by 81
Hales, S. B., Turner‐McGrievy, G. M., Wilcox, S., Fahim, A., Davis, R. E., Huhns, M. N., & Valafar, H. (2016) · International Journal of Medical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2016.07.003 · Cited by 78
Why We should Assess Patients’ Expectations in Clinical Trials
Frisaldi, E., Shaibani, A. I., & Benedetti, F. (2017) · Pain and Therapy · doi:10.1007/s40122-017-0071-8 · Cited by 72
Kong, J., Puetz, C., Tian, L., Haynes, I., Lee, E., Stafford, R. S., Manber, R., & Mackey, S. (2020) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.22787 · Cited by 71
Self-citationSymptom importance, patient expectations, and satisfaction in chronic rhinosinusitis
Mattos, J. L., Rudmik, L. R., Schlosser, R. J., Smith, T. L., Mace, J. C., Alt, J. A., & Soler, Z. M. (2019) · International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology · doi:10.1002/alr.22309 · Cited by 63
Cognitive-Motivational Influences on Health Behavior Change in Adults with Chronic Pain
Anderson, R. J., Hurley, R. W., Staud, R. M., & Robinson, M. E. (2015) · Pain Medicine · doi:10.1111/pme.12929 · Cited by 58
Risk of bias in randomized clinical trials on psychedelic medicine: A systematic review
Hovmand, O. R., Poulsen, E. D., Arnfred, S., & Storebø, O. J. (2023) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/02698811231180276 · Cited by 63
“Standardized instruments such as the Credibility/ Expectancy Questionnaire (Younger et al., 2012) could be utilized for this purpose.”
Placebo effects in osteoarthritis: implications for treatment and drug development
Neogi, T., & Colloca, L. (2023) · Nature Reviews Rheumatology · doi:10.1038/s41584-023-01021-4 · Cited by 61
Osmanovic, A., Ranxha, G., Kumpe, M., Müschen, L. H., Binz, C., Wiehler, F., Paracka, L., Körner, S., Kollewe, K., Petri, S., et al. (2020) · Journal of Neurology · doi:10.1007/s00415-020-09847-8 · Cited by 54
Taso, M., Sommernes, J. H., Kolstad, F., Sundseth, J., Bjorland, S., Pripp, A. H., Zwart, J., & Brox, J. I. (2020) · BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders · doi:10.1186/s12891-020-3188-6 · Cited by 49
Benedetti, F., Frisaldi, E., & Shaibani, A. I. (2021) · The Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology · doi:10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-052120-104536 · Cited by 50
Patient phenotyping in clinical trials of chronic pain treatments: IMMPACT recommendations
Edwards, R. R., Dworkin, R. H., Turk, D. C., Angst, M. S., Dionne, R. A., Freeman, R. L., Hansson, P. T., Haroutounian, S., Arendt‐Nielsen, L., Attal, N., et al. (2021) · PAIN Reports · doi:10.1097/pr9.0000000000000896 · Cited by 48
Hohenschurz‐Schmidt, D., Draper‐Rodi, J., Vase, L., Scott, W., McGregor, A. H., Soliman, N., MacMillan, A., Olivier, A., Cherian, C. A., Corcoran, D., et al. (2022) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002723 · Cited by 50
Husain, M. I., Blumberger, D. M., Castle, D. J., Ledwos, N., Fellows, E., Jones, B. D. M., Ortiz, A., Kloiber, S. M., Wang, W., Rosenblat, J. D., et al. (2023) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2023.535 · Cited by 48
“37 The SETS will be administered at the baseline visit.”
Schipper, S., Nigam, K. B., Schmid, Y., Piechotta, V., Ljuslin, M., Beaussant, Y., Schwarzer, G., & Boehlke, C. S. (2024) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd015383.pub2 · Cited by 44
Schindler, E. A. D., Sewell, R. A., Gottschalk, C. H., Flynn, L. T., Zhu, Y., Pittman, B. P., Cozzi, N. V., & D’Souza, D. C. (2024) · Journal of the Neurological Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.jns.2024.122993 · Cited by 43
LSD-assisted therapy in patients with anxiety: open-label prospective 12-month follow-up
Holze, F., Gasser, P., Müller, F., Strebel, M., & Liechti, M. E. (2024) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.2024.99 · Cited by 46
“33 Also, the two placebo sessions in the second period could have served as additional integration sessions in those who received LSD in the first period.”
BackgroundColonnello, V., Leonardi, G., Farinelli, M., Bertoletti, E., & Russo, P. M. (2020) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291720005012 · Cited by 38
Moosmayer, S., Ekeberg, O. M., Hallgren, H. B., Heier, I., Kvalheim, S., Juel, N. G., Blomquist, J., Pripp, A. H., & Brox, J. I. (2023) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-076447 · Cited by 36
“25 The appearance of deposits on radiographs was examined after the last follow-up had been done.”
BackgroundMethodA Systematic Review of Study Design and Placebo Controls in Psychedelic Research
Wen, A. Q., Singhal, N., Jones, B. D. M., Zeifman, R. J., Mehta, S. H., Shenasa, M. A., Blumberger, D. M., Daskalakis, Z. J., & Weissman, C. R. (2023) · Psychedelic Medicine · doi:10.1089/psymed.2023.0028 · Cited by 42
“73,74 This scale consists of two subscales: positive and negative expectancy to allow for assessment of both placebo and nocebo effects.”
InfluentialTraining face perception in developmental prosopagnosia through perceptual learning
Corrow, S. L., Davies-Thompson, J., Fletcher, K., Hills, C. S., Corrow, J. C., & Barton, J. J. S. (2019) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107196 · Cited by 33
Lam, J., Svensson, P., & Alstergren, P. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/22326 · Cited by 33
“Patient Outcome Expectancy A Swedish translation of the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale was used to assess positive and negative pretreatment expectancies of treatments [26].”
MethodExpectancy Effects Threaten the Inferential Validity of Synchrony-Prosociality Research
Atwood, S., Schachner, A., & Mehr, S. A. (2022) · Open Mind · doi:10.1162/opmi_a_00067 · Cited by 36
“Participant expectancy effects are a well-documented form of placebo effects in the clinical and experimental psychology literature (Chan & Lovibond, 1996; Colagiuri, 2010; Goldstein, 2013; Oettingen, 2000; Younger et al., 2012).”
BackgroundWang, X., Li, J., Wei, X., Shi, G., Zhang, N., Tu, J., Yan, C.-Q., Zhang, Y., Hong, Y., Yang, J., et al. (2023) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002859 · Cited by 32
Expectation of nocebo hyperalgesia affects EEG alpha-activity
Albu, S., & Meagher, M. W. (2016) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2016.08.009 · Cited by 29
The potential role of illness expectations in the progression of medical diseases
Pagnini, F. (2019) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-019-0346-4 · Cited by 30
“For example, The Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire [43] explores treatment credibility and expectancy, while the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale [44] considers both positive and negative expectations.”
BackgroundClinic-Based Patellar Mobilization Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Sit, R. W. S., Chan, K. K. W., Zou, D., Chan, D. C. C., Yip, B. H. K., Zhang, D. D., Chan, Y. H., Chung, V. C., Reeves, K. D., & Wong, S. Y. S. (2018) · The Annals of Family Medicine · doi:10.1370/afm.2320 · Cited by 29
Can knowledge of Placebo and Nocebo Mechanisms Help Improve Randomized Clinical Trials?
Carlino, E., & Vase, L. (2018) · International review of neurobiology · doi:10.1016/bs.irn.2018.01.012 · Cited by 29
Thal, S. B., Wieberneit, M., Sharbanee, J. M., Skeffington, P., Baker, P., Bruno, R., Wenge, T., & Bright, S. J. (2022) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/02698811221127954 · Cited by 24
“Furthermore, the client’s expectancy may be assessed using the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (Younger et al., 2012).”
MethodNocebo effect and biosimilars in inflammatory bowel diseases: what’s new and what’s next?
D’Amico, F., Solitano, V., Peyrin‐Biroulet, L., & Danese, S. (2020) · Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy · doi:10.1080/14712598.2020.1817374 · Cited by 23
“SETS is a six-item instrument measuring positive (confidence in therapy, treatment efficacy, and disease resolution after treatment) and negative treatment expectancies (fears, worries, and nervousness about the negative effects of the treatment) and could be a suitable score to detect patients with poor treatment exp…”
BackgroundMethodFranssen, M., Farmer, A. A., Grant, S., Greenfield, S., Heneghan, C. J., Hobbs, R. F., Hodgkinson, J., Jowett, S. M., Mant, J., Martin, U., et al. (2017) · BMC Cardiovascular Disorders · doi:10.1186/s12872-017-0494-5 · Cited by 24
“Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS) Items 1–6 [29] [Baseline and 12 m follow up only]”
MethodPainelli, V. D. S., Teixeira, E. L., Tardone, B., Moreno, M., Morandini, J., Hevia-Larraín, V., & Pires, F. O. (2021) · International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism · doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2020-0363 · Cited by 22
Mollica, A., Ng, E., Burke, M. J., Nestor, S. M., Lee, H. H., Rabin, J. S., Hamani, C., Lipsman, N., & Giacobbe, P. (2024) · Brain stimulation · doi:10.1016/j.brs.2024.06.006 · Cited by 24
“Both the positive and negative expectancy subscales have high internal reliability and consistency, and positive expectations have been predictive of treatment outcomes, and negative expectations have been associated with side effects [22].”
Sit, R. W. S., Choi, S. Y. K., Wang, B., Chan, D. C. C., Zhang, D., Yip, B. H. K., & Wong, S. Y. S. (2020) · British Journal of General Practice · doi:10.3399/bjgp20x714053 · Cited by 21
“33”
Jensen, M. E., Stenbæk, D. S., Juul, T. S., Fisher, P. M., Ekstrøm, C. T., Knudsen, G. M., & Fink‐Jensen, A. (2022) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066019 · Cited by 25
Langford, D. J., Lou, R., Sheen, S., Amtmann, D., Colloca, L., Edwards, R. R., Farrar, J. T., Katz, N. P., McDermott, M. P., Reeve, B. B., et al. (2022) · Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2022.12.011 · Cited by 21
Darnall, B. D., Ziadni, M. S., Roy, A., Kao, M. J., Sturgeon, J. A., Cook, K. F., Lorig, K. R., Burns, J. W., & Mackey, S. (2018) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-018-2537-3 · Cited by 21
Self-citationPalermo, S., Giovannelli, F., Bartoli, M., & Amanzio, M. (2019) · Frontiers in Pharmacology · doi:10.3389/fphar.2019.00502 · Cited by 22
Placebo Responders and Nonresponders: What’s New?
Frisaldi, E., Shaibani, A. I., & Benedetti, F. (2018) · Pain Management · doi:10.2217/pmt-2018-0054 · Cited by 19
Stuhlreyer, J., Roder, C., Krug, F., Zöllner, C., Flor, H., & Klinger, R. (2022) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/s12916-022-02638-0 · Cited by 20
“Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS) and questions about treatment satisfaction after the surgery [19].”
BackgroundComment on: “Caffeine and Exercise: What Next?”
Painelli, V. D. S., Brietzke, C., Franco‐Alvarenga, P. E., Canestri, R., Vinícius, Í., & Pires, F. O. (2020) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-020-01278-9 · Cited by 18
Mueller, C., Ness, T. J., & Younger, J. (2021) · Journal of Pain Research · doi:10.2147/jpr.s285609 · Cited by 18
Self-citationHo, R. S. T., Ho, F. F., Adams, J., Cramer, H., Leung, B. M. Y., Ward, L., Zhang, Y., & Chung, V. C. (2021) · Integrative Medicine Research · doi:10.1016/j.imr.2021.100771 · Cited by 17
Stuhlreyer, J., & Klinger, R. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.840270 · Cited by 18
Expectations: How and when do they contribute to placebo analgesia?
Rosenkjær, S., Lunde, S. J., Kirsch, I., & Vase, L. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.817179 · Cited by 17
Blinding and expectancy confounds in psychedelic randomised controlled trials
Muthukumaraswamy, S., Forsyth, A., & Lumley, T. (2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/q2hzm · Cited by 15
Blinding Integrity in Psychedelic Randomized Clinical Trials
Orsini, D. K., Wong, S., Luch, S. D. D., Chan, B., Vasudeva, S., Lovell, G. F. M., Le, G. H., Jones, B. D. M., Chisamore, N., Mollica, A., et al. (2026) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.0255 · Cited by 19
KALK study group, Moosmayer, S., Ekeberg, O. M., Hallgren, H. B., Heier, I., Kvalheim, S., Blomquist, J., Pripp, A. H., Juel, N. G., Kjellevold, S. H., et al. (2017) · BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders · doi:10.1186/s12891-017-1501-9 · Cited by 15
“On the treatment day, prior to treatment, three patient related outcome scores (Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) [14, 15], quickDASH upper extremity score [16, 17], EQ-5D-5L general health score [18, 19]) and three visual analogue scales (VAS) for pain at rest, during activity and at night will be completed by the patient,…”
MethodInfluentialPsilocybin for Depression: From Credibility to Feasibility, What’s Missing?
Munafò, A., Arillotta, D., Mannaioni, G., Schifano, F., Bernardini, R., & Cantarella, G. (2022) · Pharmaceuticals · doi:10.3390/ph16010068 · Cited by 15
“Hence, investigators should manage expectations whilst emphasizing the uncertainty regarding the treatment efficacy and measuring participants’ treatment expectations through established measures, such as the Stanford Expectations of Treatment scale [67], both at the baseline and after drug administration.”
BackgroundThe Role of Treatment Perceptions in Intervention Evaluation: A Review
Sidani, S., & Fox, M. T. (2020) · Science of Nursing and Health Practices · doi:10.31770/2561-7516.1079 · Cited by 14
“This improvement, however, may be associated with participants’ placebo response initiated by the anticipated benefits of the treatment more so than with the active ingredients of the treatment to which they were actually exposed and they enacted (Frisaldi et al., 2017; Gaudiano et al., 2013; Younger et al., 2012).”
BackgroundInfluentialCognitive interviews guide design of a new CAM patient expectations questionnaire
Sherman, K. J., Eaves, E. R., Ritenbaugh, C., Hsu, C. W., Cherkin, D. C., & Turner, J. A. (2014) · BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine · doi:10.1186/1472-6882-14-39 · Cited by 12
“Cognitive interviews have not been used when developing previously validated questionnaires of treatment expectations [13-15], even though cognitive interviews have been used when developing other questionnaires designed to assess patient reported outcomes [16,17].”
MethodVanderijst, L., Hever, F., Buot, A., Dauré, C., Benoit, J., Hanak, C., Veeser, J., Morgiève, M., Campanella, S., Kornreich, C., et al. (2024) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-024-05502-y · Cited by 13
“Participants’ expectancy will be assessed with the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS; [114]) at baseline, and blinding efficacy will be assessed by asking participants and therapists to guess group allocation and indicate guess certainty following the psilocybin administration session.”
MethodGenomics and Patient Empowerment
McAllister, M. (2015) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-420195-8.00003-3 · Cited by 13
The role of the Nocebo effect in the use of biosimilars in routine rheumatology clinical practice
Kravvariti, E., & Kitas, G. D. (2019) · Mediterranean Journal of Rheumatology · doi:10.31138/mjr.30.1.63 · Cited by 13
Kekecs, Z., Moss, D., Whorwell, P. J., Varga, K., Terhune, D. B., Shenefelt, P. D., Palsson, O. S., Benedittis, G. D., & Elkins, G. (2024) · Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine · doi:10.1177/2515690x241274538 · Cited by 12
“Valid measures of response expectancies include the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS), 87 and the credibility/expectancy questionnaire (CEQ).”
MethodThe effects of being told you are in the intervention group on training results: a pilot study
Lindberg, K., Bjørnsen, T., Vårvik, F. T., Paulsen, G., Joensen, M., Kristoffersen, M., Sveen, O., Gundersen, H. S., Slettaløkken, G., Brankovic, R., et al. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-29141-7 · Cited by 15
Ryösä, A., Kukkonen, J., Hallgren, H. B., Moosmayer, S., Holmgren, T., Ranebo, M. C., Bøe, B., & Äärimaa, V. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025022 · Cited by 12
“High preoperative expectations are described to correlate with better results after rotator cuff surgery28 29 and low expectations with failure.30 To address the validity of the trial in the light of expectancies,31 32 we measure the preoperative expectations with Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale.33 Depression…”
MethodTelch, M. J., Fischer, C. M., Zaizar, E. D., Rubin, M., & Papini, S. (2022) · Contemporary Clinical Trials · doi:10.1016/j.cct.2022.106933 · Cited by 13
Sit, R. W. S., Chan, K. K. W., Yip, B. H. K., Zhang, D. D., Reeves, K. D., Chan, Y. H., Chung, V. C., & Wong, S. Y. S. (2018) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019103 · Cited by 12
“Because the patient’s response to treatment may be influenced by his or her expectations before the start of treatment, reducing the statistical power to detect specific treatment effects, the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale will be used to overcome this.(52)”
MethodHeirich, M. S., Sinjary, L. S., Ziadni, M. S., Sacks, S. H., Buchanan, A. S., Mackey, S., & Newmark, J. L. (2018) · Pain Medicine · doi:10.1093/pm/pny171 · Cited by 12
Self-citationPatients’ expectancy scale of acupuncture: Development and clinical performance test
Yang, X., Xia, W., Xu, Y., Han, F., Yan, S., Liu, Y., Wang, T., Zhou, J.-N., Chen, N., Zeng, X., et al. (2023) · Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice · doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2023.101797 · Cited by 11
Tanner, A. E., Dowshen, N., Philbin, M. M., Rulison, K. L., Camacho-González, A., Lee, S., Moore, S. J., Fortenberry, J. D., & Hussen, S. A. (2021) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/24565 · Cited by 12
Merritt, O. A., & Purdon, C. (2021) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjc.12313 · Cited by 10
Mackey, S., Gilam, G., Darnall, B. D., Goldin, P. R., Kong, J., Law, C. S. W., Heirich, M. S., Karayannis, N. V., Kao, M. J., Tian, L., et al. (2022) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/37823 · Cited by 13
Self-citationButler, M., Bird, C., Maggio, C., Durden, A., Modlin, N. L., Campbell‐Coker, K., Edwards, M. J., Pick, S., Millman, L. S. M., Lowery, E., et al. (2024) · Wellcome Open Research · doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.22543.1 · Cited by 9
Mattos, J. L., Soler, Z. M., Rudmik, L. R., Manes, P. R., Higgins, T. S., Lee, J. T., Schneider, J. S., Setzen, M., Parasher, A. K., Smith, T. L., et al. (2018) · International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology · doi:10.1002/alr.22154 · Cited by 9
Stuhlreyer, J., Schwartz, M., Friedheim, T., Zöllner, C., & Klinger, R. (2022) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059044 · Cited by 9
Pratscher, S. D., Sibille, K. T., & Fillingim, R. B. (2023) · Pilot and Feasibility Studies · doi:10.1186/s40814-023-01247-9 · Cited by 9
Ching, T. H. W., Amoroso, L., Bohner, C., D’Amico, E. J., Eilbott, J. A., Entezar, T., Fitzpatrick, M., Fram, G., Grazioplene, R. G., Hokanson, J., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1278823 · Cited by 10
Ferreira, D. M. A. O., Soares, F. F. C., Raimundini, A. A., Bonjardim, L. R., Costa, Y. M., & Conti, P. C. R. (2023) · Journal of Oral Rehabilitation · doi:10.1111/joor.13628 · Cited by 6
Development of a text message-based headache diary in adolescents and children
Kellier, D. J., de Prado, B. M., Haagen, D., Grabner, P., Raj, N. R., Lechtenberg, L., Velasquez, G., Hsu, J. Y., Farrar, J. T., Hershey, A. D., et al. (2022) · Cephalalgia · doi:10.1177/03331024221090206 · Cited by 8
“This is a secondary analysis of data collected during follow-up from a validation study of a pediatric adaptation of the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale, a measure of a patient’s expectations of clinical outcome prior to the start of treatment (22).”
MethodFerkin, A. C., Tonkin, S., Maguin, E., Mahoney, M. C., Colder, C. R., Tiffany, S. T., & Hawk, L. W. (2022) · Nicotine & Tobacco Research · doi:10.1093/ntr/ntac187 · Cited by 8
Pulling, B. W., Braithwaite, F. A., Moseley, G. L., Jensen, M. P., Burke, A. L. J., Collins, K. L., Hull, M. J., Jones, H. G., Cyna, A. M., Ferencz, N., et al. (2022) · International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis · doi:10.1080/00207144.2022.2105147 · Cited by 8
“Treatment expectations (Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale; Younger et al., 2012) were assessed at baseline and after the first treatment session.”
BackgroundPlank, J. R., Glover, S. C., Moloney, B. D., Hoeh, N. R., Sundram, F., Sumner, R. L., Muthukumaraswamy, S. D., & Lin, J. C. (2022) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-022-06738-3 · Cited by 8
“Finally, the Generic Assessment of Side Effects (GASE, [51]) questionnaire will be used to monitor the adverse effects of LDN, and treatment expectancy effects will be measured using the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS, [52]).”
MethodRandomized controlled trial of intrathecal oxytocin on speed of recovery after hip arthroplasty
Eisenach, J. C., Shields, J. S., Weller, R. S., Curry, R. S., Langfitt, M. K., Henshaw, D. S., Pollock, D. C., Edwards, C. J., Collaborators, S. O. H. S., & Houle, T. T. (2022) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002810 · Cited by 9
Knock, E., Siefried, K. J., Bedi, G., Albert, S., Day, R. O., Ezard, N., Ross, M., Liknaitzky, P., & Brett, J. (2025) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.70187 · Cited by 9
Klein, M. R., Darnall, B. D., & You, D. S. (2024) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/53784 · Cited by 7
“The 6-item Stanford Expectation of Treatment Scale [33] is administered to assess positive and negative expectation of upcoming treatment on an 11-point Likert scale ( α =.86).”
MethodMirjalili, M., Palamarchuk, I. S., Brooks, H., Zomorrodi, R., Melichercik, A., Wang, W., Nestor, S. M., Blumberger, D. M., Datta, A., Bowie, C. R., et al. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1565881 · Cited by 8
Marsden, J., Kelleher, M., Dunbar, F., Ermakova, A. O., Mitcheson, L., Roberts, C., Rucker, J., Scott, G., Saeger, I., Small, F., et al. (2025) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.70260 · Cited by 7
Replicability of motor cortex-excitability modulation by intermittent theta burst stimulation
Seybert, C., Cotovio, G., da Silva, D. R., Viana, F. F., Pereira, P., & Oliveira-Maia, A. J. (2023) · Clinical Neurophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2023.04.014 · Cited by 8
“Additionally, to assess participant expectation regarding the effects of TMS, we adapted the Stanford Expectation Treatment Scale (SETS) (Younger et al., 2012) to a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) research setting, according to International Test Commission Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests (ITC Gu…”
MethodGoodman, M. S., Vila‐Rodriguez, F., Barwick, M. A., Burke, M. J., Downar, J. H., Hunter, J., Kaster, T. S., Knyahnytska, Y., Kurdyak, P. A., Maunder, R., et al. (2024) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-023-05470-9 · Cited by 8
“At baseline, participants will be asked about their expectancy of improving following the treatment course using the Stanford Expectancy Scale [41].”
MethodAl-Itejawi, H. H. M., van Uden‐Kraan, C. F., van de Ven, P. M., Coupé, V. M. H., Vis, A. N., Nieuwenhuijzen, J. A., van Moorselaar, R. J. A., & Leeuw, I. M. V. (2017) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-015154 · Cited by 7
“Questions 7–10 are not scored and just provide optional information.(30)”
Backgroundde Lira, M. R., Meziat‐Filho, N., Silva, G. Z. M., & Chaves, T. C. (2022) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-022-06466-8 · Cited by 7
“In the baseline, we will administer scales to assess moderating effect: expectation [34], depression [35], anxiety [36], kinesiofobia [37], and pain catastrophizing [38].”
MethodLi, J., Liu, C., Zhang, N., Yan, C.-Q., Tu, J., Wang, Y., Qi, Y., Liu, J., & Wang, X. (2020) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-020-04908-9 · Cited by 7
MDMA-Assisted Group Therapy for PTSD: Development of a Novel Protocol
Stauffer, C. S., Bouleh, P., & Anderson, B. T. (2025) · Cognitive and Behavioral Practice · doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2025.03.001 · Cited by 7
Metadata
- Authors
- Younger, J., Gandhi, V., Hubbard, E., & Mackey, S.
- Affiliations
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- Venue
- Clinical Trials
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-11-20
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 767-776
- ISSN
- 1740-7745 (ISSN-L)
- 1740-7753
- OpenAlex
- W2020646491
- Cited by
- 212
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Trials (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- School of Medicine, Stanford University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- treatment expectancy, patient expectations, placebo effect, expectancy effects, scale development, psychometric validation, surgical treatment, pain interventions, statistical power
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Attitude to Health, Clinical Trials as Topic, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Predictive Value of Tests, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Research Design, Reproducibility of Results, Placebo Effect, Research Subjects
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review