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

Abstract

Introduction: As their name suggests, 'psychedelic' (mind-revealing) compounds are thought to catalyse processes of psychological insight; however, few satisfactory scales exist to sample this. This study sought to develop a new scale to measure psychological insight after a psychedelic experience: the Psychological Insight Scale (PIS).

Methods: The PIS is a six- to seven-item questionnaire that enquires about psychological insight after a psychedelic experience (PIS-6) and accompanied behavioural changes (PIS item 7). In total, 886 participants took part in a study in which the PIS and other questionnaires were completed in a prospective fashion in relation to a planned psychedelic experience. For validation purposes, data from 279 participants were analysed from a non-specific 'global psychedelic survey' study.

Results: Principal components analysis of PIS scores revealed a principal component explaining 73.57% of the variance, which displayed high internal consistency at multiple timepoints throughout the study (average Cronbach's α = 0.94). Criterion validity was confirmed using the global psychedelic survey study, and convergent validity was confirmed via the Therapeutic-Realizations Scale. Furthermore, PIS scores significantly mediated the relationship between emotional breakthrough and long-term well-being.

Conclusion: The PIS is complementary to current subjective measures used in psychedelic studies, most of which are completed in relation to the acute experience. Insight - as measured by the PIS - was found to be a key mediator of long-term psychological outcomes following a psychedelic experience. Future research may investigate how insight varies throughout a psychedelic process, its underlying neurobiology and how it impacts behaviour and mental health.

Keywords: Psychedelic; emotion; insight; mediation; therapy; well-being.

Figure 1.

In a causal path analysis model, psychological well-being 2 weeks after a psychedelic experience is significantly predicted by the acute psychedelic state (CEQ, EBI, MEQ), while controlling for baseline well-being (not shown). Mystical and challenging experiences directly affect well-being, whereas the effect of emotional breakthrough experiences was mediated through psychological insight. Only paths and standardised coefficients significant below p = 0.05 are displayed. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. CEQ: Challenging Experience Questionnaire; EBI: Emotional Breakthrough Inventory; MEQ: Mystical Experience Questionnaire.

Figure 2.

Correlation analysis between well-being scores (WEMWBS) at 2 weeks post-retreat and psychological insight (as measured using the PIS) at 1-day post-retreat. Participants with low baseline WEMWBS (⩽43) demonstrated the strongest correlation (r_s = 0.506, n = 120), followed by all participants (r_s = 0.344, n = 312). Displayed are the Spearman’s correlation coefficients (r_s). WEMWBS: Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale; PIS: Psychological Insight Scale. ***p < 0.001.

Figure 3.

Predictive validity in study 2: Correlation analyses of psychological insight (PIS-6) measured 1-day post-psychedelic experience with changes in well-being (as measured by the WEMWBS) after 2 weeks (ΔWEMWBS_2 weeks) within the total sample (n = 190) and low well-being subgroup (baseline WEMWBS score ⩽43, n = 69). Displayed are the Spearman’s correlation coefficients (r_s). WEMWBS: Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. ***p < 0.001.