Identifying the psychological effects of nocebo education: results from two pre-registered experiments.

Providing treatment side effect information to patients increases the risk of harm due to the nocebo effect. Nocebo education, in which patients learn about nocebo effects, is a novel strategy that can be used across a variety of situations and individuals to decrease unpleasant treatment side effects. It is currently unclear which psychological changes are induced by nocebo education, which is information required to maximize this intervention. Two pre-registered studies investigated the effects of nocebo education on side effect expectations, side effect control beliefs, feelings toward treatments, intentions to avoid or seek side effect information, and perceptions of treatment efficacy. In Study 1 (N = 220), adult participants either watched or did not watch a nocebo education intervention video prior to reading vignettes about receiving a surgical treatment for pain and a medication for pain. Study 2 (N = 252) was similar to Study 1, with the inclusion of a health behavior video control group and participants only reading about a medication treatment for pain. In both experiments, nocebo education reduced global side effect expectations and increased side effect self-efficacy beliefs. Nocebo education also increased intentions to avoid side effect information and decreased intentions to seek more side effect information. Evidence was inconclusive on whether nocebo education changes affective associations with the treatments. The findings demonstrate that nocebo education has a multi-faceted influence with the potential to change patient behavior. The results can be used to improve the management of adverse treatment side effects.

New Versions of the MMPI and Rorschach: How Have Training Programs Responded?

In this brief article, we update the training of newer versions of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Rorschach and compare to a 2015 assessment training survey of American Psychological Association accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs. The survey sample sizes for 2015, 2021, and 2022 were 83, 81, and 88, respectively. By 2015, of the programs teaching any adult MMPI version, almost all (94%) were still teaching the MMPI-2, and 68% had started teaching the MMPI-2-RF. In 2021 and 2022, respectively, almost all programs (96% and 94%) had started teaching the MMPI-2-RF or MMPI-3, although most were still teaching the MMPI-2 (77% and 66%). By 2015, of the programs teaching the Rorschach, 85% were still teaching the Comprehensive System (CS) and 60% had started teaching the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS). In 2021 and 2022, respectively, most programs had started teaching R-PAS (77% and 77%) although many (65% and 50%) were still teaching the CS. Therefore, doctoral programs are indeed switching to newer versions of the MMPI and Rorschach, although more slowly than one might expect. We recommend that APA provide more guidance in selecting test versions for training programs, practitioners, and researchers.

Improving dependability in science: A critique on the psychometric qualities of the HiTOP psychosis superspectrum.

We reevaluated HiTOP's existing factor analytic evidence-base for a Psychosis (P) superspectrum as encompassing two psychosis-relevant subfactors ("spectra")-Thought Disorder (TD) and Detachment (D). We found that their data did not support P as a superspectrum with TD and D subfactors. Instead, TD contained both positive and negative symptoms of psychosis and emerged at the subfactor level. D did not target negative symptoms but, largely, disorders unrelated to psychosis and should not be placed under P. Determining if P is truly a superspectrum with psychosis TD and D subfactors will require factor analyses whose items are symptom-based and span the full range of psychopathology. Secondly, HiTOP authors state that TD and D provide a "nearly 2-fold" improvement in reliability over schizophrenia diagnoses but, after aligning the comparative study methodologies, this 2-fold improvement disappears. Finally, HiTOP's use of the term thought disorder is inconsistent with the ICD-11 and psychosis literature, in which it refers to formal thought disorder. We recommend that HiTOP (a) refer to P as a subfactor with positive and negative symptoms of psychosis until research indicates otherwise, (b) regularly rely on formal systematic reviews, (c) use appropriate reliability comparisons, (d) deconflate D with negative symptoms, and (e) rename TD.