Expectancy Effect in Three Mind-Body Clinical Trials

Matthew Hicks; Douglas Hanes; Helané Wahbeh

doi:10.1177/2156587216652572

Expectancy Effect in Three Mind-Body Clinical Trials

Matthew Hicks, Douglas Hanes, Helané Wahbeh

Neurology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Expectancy, arguably the prime component of the placebo effect, has been shown to significantly modify the effects of many treatments. Furthermore, various forms of mind-body interventions have demonstrated effective improvements in outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between pretreatment expectations and symptom reduction in a secondary analysis of 3 mind-body intervention programs. An adjusted correlation and regression analysis compared data from a 6-question expectancy questionnaire to a self-reported clinical impression of change score. Only 1 of the 6 expectancy questions in 1 of the 3 studies reached significance (B = 0.087; P =.025). The combined data from all 3 studies did not reveal significant expectancy effects. The positive effects of mindfulness meditation appear to be independent of an expectancy effect.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	NP103-NP109
Journal	Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume	21
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587216652572
State	Published - Oct 1 2016

Keywords

expectancy
meditation
mind-body
mindfulness-based stress reduction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Complementary and alternative medicine

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10.1177/2156587216652572

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Expectancy Effect in Three Mind-Body Clinical Trials

Abstract

Keywords

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