Societal Perspectives on Psychedelics Use in Clinical Context: Development of Concerns and Openness Towards Psychedelic Scale (COPS)

Title & Introduction

• Paper Title: Societal Perspectives on Psychedelics Use in Clinical Context: Development of Concerns and Openness Towards Psychedelic Scale (COPS)
• Published In: Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience
• Publish date: March 6, 2025
• Authors: Paweł Holas, Justyna Kamińska, Marcin Zajenkowski
• Objective: To develop and validate a scale measuring societal attitudes towards psychedelic-assisted therapy, identifying dimensions of openness and concerns.
• Importance: Understanding public attitudes toward psychedelics is essential for shaping policy, clinical practice, and education on psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Summary & Takeaways

Key Takeaway: The Concerns and Openness Towards Psychedelics Scale (COPS) effectively quantifies public attitudes, revealing that psychological flexibility and openness correlate with more positive perceptions of psychedelic therapies.

Practical Application: The COPS scale can be used to assess public perception, guide educational campaigns, and inform regulatory policies surrounding psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Key Background Information

• Context: Psychedelic-assisted therapy is gaining scientific recognition, but public acceptance remains divided due to historical stigma and legal restrictions.
• Hypothesis: Attitudes toward psychedelics are influenced by personality traits, knowledge, and exposure, with openness to experience predicting more positive views.

Methodology

• Study Design: Two-part psychometric study validating the newly developed scale.
• Participants: 1000 individuals in Study 1 (convenience sample) and 843 individuals in Study 2 (representative Polish sample).
• Intervention/Exposure: Survey-based assessment using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.
• Controls: Comparison of COPS scores with established psychological constructs.
• Duration: Cross-sectional data collection.

Key Findings

Primary Outcomes:

• The COPS scale consists of two dimensions: Openness Toward Psychedelics and Concerns Toward Psychedelics.
• Higher openness scores correlate with psychological traits like mindfulness, agreeableness, and meaning in life.
• Higher concerns scores are associated with skepticism, lack of knowledge, and lower psychological flexibility.

Secondary Outcomes:

• Societal attitudes toward psychedelics are shaped by personality traits and exposure to scientific discourse.
• Public concerns focus on safety, legality, and misconceptions about psychedelic-induced harm.
• Educational efforts could shift attitudes by increasing awareness of scientific evidence supporting psychedelic therapies.

Interpretation & Implications

• Conclusion: The COPS scale provides a validated tool for assessing societal attitudes toward psychedelics, aiding in public health and policy discussions.
• Implications: Greater openness toward psychedelics is linked to psychological well-being, suggesting that reducing stigma could enhance acceptance of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
• Limitations: The study is limited to a Polish population, requiring cross-cultural validation in other regions.

Researchers & Publication

• Researchers: Paweł Holas, Justyna Kamińska, Marcin Zajenkowski
• Publication Name: Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience
• Study URL: 10.1080/19585969.2025.2470426