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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Mood Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1439347
This article is part of the Research Topic Rising Stars in Psychiatry: 2024 View all 3 articles

The association between diverse psychological protocols and the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy for clinical depressive symptoms: a Bayesian meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Mu-Hong Chen Mu-Hong Chen 1Shu-Li Cheng Shu-Li Cheng 2Yu-Chen Kao Yu-Chen Kao 3Ping-Tao Tseng Ping-Tao Tseng 4Chih-Wei Hsu Chih-Wei Hsu 5Chia- Ling Yu Chia- Ling Yu 6Fu-Chi Yang Fu-Chi Yang 7Trevor Thompson Trevor Thompson 8Tien-Wei Hsu Tien-Wei Hsu 9*Chih-Sung Liang Chih-Sung Liang 3
  • 1 Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taipei County, Taiwan
  • 2 Mackay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan
  • 3 Tri-Service General Hospital Beitou Branch, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 4 National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan
  • 5 Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 6 Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Changhua, Taiwan
  • 7 Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 8 University of Greenwich, London, London, United Kingdom
  • 9 E-Da Dachang Hospital, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Psilocybin-assisted therapy has shown promising efficacy on clinical depressive symptoms. However, diverse psychological support or psychotherapy was performed with psilocybin treatment. This study aimed to explore the association of psychological protocols with the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy for depressive symptoms.Method: Five major databases were systemic searched for clinical trials addressing psilocybinassisted therapy for patients with clinical depressive symptoms. A Bayesian random-effects metaanalysis and meta-regression were performed. The effect size was mean difference (with 95% credible interval) measured by 17-Item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.Results: There were 10 eligible studies including 515 adult patients with clinically diagnosed depression. The psychological protocols could be categorised into four types: (i) manualized directive psychotherapy(k=1); (ii) manualized nondirective psychological support(k=3), (iii) nonmanualized nondirective psychological support(k=5); and (iv) non-manualized supportive psychotherapy(k=1). The pooled standard mean difference of psilocybin-assisted therapy was 10.08 (5.03-14.70).Compared with manualized nondirective psychological support, the other three psychological approaches did not differ significantly. The improvement of depressive symptoms was not associated with the psychological protocols in adult patients receiving psilocybin-assisted therapy.

    Keywords: psilocybin, psilocybin-assisted therapy, Bayesian meta-analysis, depressive symptoms, Psychotherapy outcome research

    Received: 27 May 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Cheng, Kao, Tseng, Hsu, Yu, Yang, Thompson, Hsu and Liang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tien-Wei Hsu, E-Da Dachang Hospital, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

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