Validation of the Danish Translation of the Revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30) and Possible Impact of Setting, Dose and Intention
Oliver Rumle Hovmand, Mathias Ebbesen Jensen, Tobias Søgaard Juul, M. Madsen, Patrick M. Fisher, Dea Siggaard Stenbæk
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs January 15, 2024 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2024.2302186 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Validation study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,381 |
| Population | Danish-speaking healthy volunteers receiving psilocybin in a laboratory setting and recreational users of psychedelics |
| Intervention | Psilocybin |
| Topics | Mysticism Psilocybin Mystical experience |
| Keywords | Danish Confirmatory factor analysis Clinical psychology |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key points | The Danish MEQ30 is a valid and reliable tool for assessing mystical-type experiences, with a four-factor structure providing the best fit and scores correlating with dose and spiritual or religious intention. |
Abstract
Research suggests positive changes in both well-being and psychiatric symptoms following a psychedelic experience. One explanation may be the ability of psychedelic compounds to occasion mystical-type experiences. The Revised Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ30) is designed to assess the intensity and quality of such experiences. We examined the validity, reliability, and factor structure of a Danish translation of the MEQ30 in one sample of healthy volunteers receiving psilocybin in a laboratory setting (N = 47) and two samples of recreative users of psychedelics, in which MEQ30 was reported retrospectively through an online survey based on their most recent experience with psilocybin (N = 834) or their most memorable experience with any psychedelic (N = 500). We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis of the previously suggested factor structures, calculated alpha and omega, and tested the associations between MEQ30 total score and setting, intention and dose. We found excellent internal reliability estimates across all samples, and confirmatory factor analysis showed that a four-factor structure, had the best, fair fit to the data. We further found that the MEQ30 total score was correlated with dose and a spiritual/religious intention, but not with setting. The Danish MEQ30 seems to be a valid tool for accessing mystical-type experiences among Danish-speaking individuals.