Dispositional predictors of complementary medicine and vitamin use in students

Lifetime prevalence of questionable health behaviors and their psychological roots: A preregistered nationally representative survey

A growing body of evidence suggests that questionable health behaviors- not following medical recommendations and resorting to non-evidence based treatments-are more frequent than previously thought, and that they seem to have strong psychological roots. We thus aimed to: 1) document the lifetime prevalence of intentional non-adherence to medical recommendations (iNAR) and use of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) in Serbia and 2) understand how they relate to 'distal' psychological factors-personality traits and thinking dispositions, and 'proximal' factors-a set of beliefs and cognitive biases under the term 'irrational mindset'. In this preregistered cross-sectional study on a nationally representative sample (N = 1003), we observed high lifetime prevalence of iNAR (91.3%) and TCAM (99.2%). Irrational beliefs, especially magical health beliefs and medical conspiracy theories, were the strongest predictors of TCAM. They also mediated the relation between Disintegration/lower cognitive reflectiveness and TCAM. High Disintegration, and low Conscientiousness predicted iNAR directly, whilst negative experiences with the healthcare system facilitated both types of questionable health practices. The established psychological profile of people prone to questionable health behaviors and the fact they can be tracked to negative experiences with the system can be used to tailor public health communications.

Prevalence of questionable health behaviours in Serbia and their psychological roots: protocol for a nationally representative survey

INTRODUCTION

We will launch a national survey in Serbia to document the prevalence of two types of questionable health behaviours: (1) intentional non-adherence to medical recommendations and (2) use of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine practices, as well as the relation between the two. We will also investigate their psychological roots, including (a) 'distal' predictors such as HEXACO personality traits (plus Disintegration) and thinking dispositions (rational/experiential thinking and cognitive reflexivity), and (b) 'proximal' predictors under the umbrella 'irrational mindset' (set of unfounded beliefs consisting of conspiratorial thinking, superstition, magical health beliefs as well as selected cognitive biases), which have more content-wise overlap with the health behaviours.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

In this cross-sectional study, a research agency will collect data from a nationally representative sample (n=1043; age 18-75 years; estimated start/end-June/November 2021) recruited online (approximately, 70% of the sample, aged 18-54; 11 years) and face-to-face (approximately, 30% of the sample, aged 55-75 years). Participants will complete a battery of tests assessing questionable health behaviours, basic personality traits, thinking dispositions, irrational mindset, sociopolitical beliefs, sociodemographic and health-related variables. Prevalence rates will be calculated using descriptive statistics. To explore the relation between (psychological) predictors and questionable health behaviours, we will use hierarchical regression and partial mediation models (path analysis or full SEM models).

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical Committees of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade (#935/1), Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation (#139/1) and Faculty of Media and Communications (#228) approved the protocol. Only participants who provide informed consent will participate in the study. A research report based on the study results will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals and results will be made available to stakeholders through reports on the project website https://reasonforhealth.f.bg.ac.rs/en/ and disseminated via social media.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT05808660.

Tracking variations in daily questionable health behaviors and their psychological roots: a preregistered experience sampling study

People resort to various questionable health practices to preserve or regain health - they intentionally do not adhere to medical recommendations (e.g. self-medicate or modify the prescribed therapies; iNAR), or use traditional/complementary/alternative (TCAM) medicine. As retrospective reports overestimate adherence and suffer from recall and desirability bias, we tracked the variations in daily questionable health behaviors and compared them to their retrospectively reported lifetime use. We also preregistered and explored their relations to a wide set of psychological predictors - distal (personality traits and basic thinking dispositions) and proximal (different unfounded beliefs and biases grouped under the term irrational mindset). A community sample (N = 224) tracked daily engagement in iNAR and TCAM use for 14 days, resulting in 3136 data points. We observed a high rate of questionable health practices over the 14 days; daily engagement rates roughly corresponded to lifetime ones. Both iNAR and TCAM were weakly, but robustly positively related. Independent of the assessment method, an irrational mindset was the most important predictor of TCAM use. For iNAR, however, psychological predictors emerged as relevant only when assessed retrospectively. Our study offers insight into questionable health behaviors from both a within and between-person perspective and highlights the importance of their psychological roots.

What drives us to be (ir)responsible for our health during the COVID-19 pandemic? The role of personality, thinking styles, and conspiracy mentality

The study aimed to investigate the role of personality, thinking styles, and conspiracy mentality in health-related behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., recommended health behaviors according to COVID-19 guidelines and engagement in pseudoscientific practices related to COVID-19. Basic personality space was defined by the HEXACO model complemented by Disintegration, which represents psychotic-like experiences and behaviors reconceptualized as a personality trait. Mediation analyses conducted on a convenient sample from the general population recruited via social media and by snowballing (N = 417) showed that engagement in pseudoscientific behaviors was predicted by high Disintegration. However, this relationship was entirely mediated by high experiential and low rational thinking styles. Adherence to health practices recommended by COVID-19 guidelines was predicted by high Honesty traits, while low Disintegration had both direct and indirect effects through conspiracy mentality.

A systematic review of the traits and cognitions associated with use of and belief in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is widespread despite the controversy over its effectiveness. Although previous reviews have examined the demographics and attitudes of CAM users, there is no existing review on the traits or cognitions which characterise either CAM users or those who believe in CAM effectiveness. The current systematic review set out to address these gaps in the literature by applying a narrative synthesis. A bibliographic search and manual searches were undertaken and key authors were contacted. Twenty-three papers were selected. The trait openness to experience was positively associated with CAM use but not CAM belief. Absorption and various types of coping were also positively associated with CAM use and belief. No other trait was reliably associated with CAM use or belief. Intuitive thinking and ontological confusions were positively associated with belief in CAM effectiveness; intuitive thinking was also positively associated with CAM use. Studies researching cognitions in CAM use/belief were mostly on non-clinical samples, whilst studies on traits and CAM use/belief were mostly on patients. The quality of studies varied but unrepresentative samples, untested outcome measures and simplistic statistical analyses were the most common flaws. Traits and cognition might be important correlates of CAM use and also of faith in CAM.

Predictors of positive opinion about Bach Flower Remedies in adults from three Latin-American countries: An exploratory study

The current study aimed to determine if positive opinions about BFR interacts with spirituality in adults from three Latin-American countries using a CHAID algorithm. Participants were 703 adults from Cuba (n = 319), Costa Rica (n = 252) and Chile (n = 132).

PREDICTORS

demographic data, received information, received treatment, spirituality, dispositional optimism and willingness to use a placebo intervention were measured and analyzed. A supervised classification which included a training phase (n = 423) and a test phase (n = 280) was employed. Received information about BFR, spirituality and education were selected as significant predictors of the positive opinion about BFR (>90% of correct classifications).

Implicit and explicit attitudes towards conventional and complementary and alternative medicine treatments: Introduction of an Implicit Association Test

This study examined associations between anticipated future health behaviour and participants' attitudes. Three Implicit Association Tests were developed to assess safety, efficacy and overall attitude. They were used to examine preference associations between conventional versus complementary and alternative medicine among 186 participants. A structural equation model suggested only a single implicit association, rather than three separate domains. However, this single implicit association predicted additional variance in anticipated future use of complementary and alternative medicine beyond explicit. Implicit measures should give further insight into motivation for complementary and alternative medicine use.

Prevalence of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by patients/consumers in the UK: systematic review of surveys

This systematic review aimed to estimate the prevalence of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the UK. Five databases were searched for English language, peer-reviewed surveys published between 1 January 2000 and 7 October 2011. In addition, relevant book chapters and files from our own departmental records were searched by hand. Eighty-nine surveys were included, with a total of 97,222 participants. Most studies were of poor methodological quality. Across surveys on CAM in general, the average one-year prevalence of use of CAM was 41.1% and the average lifetime prevalence was 51.8%. In methodologically sound surveys, the equivalent rates were 26.3% and 44%, respectively. In surveys with response rates >70%, average one-year prevalence was nearly threefold lower than in surveys with response rates between 21% and 50%. Herbal medicine was the most popular CAM, followed by homeopathy, aromatherapy, massage and reflexology. Many patients and consumers in the UK use CAM; healthcare professionals should therefore responsibly advise their patients about the use of CAM.

Prevalence of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by patients/consumers in the UK: systematic review of surveys

This systematic review aimed to estimate the prevalence of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the UK. Five databases were searched for English language, peer-reviewed surveys published between 1 January 2000 and 7 October 2011. In addition, relevant book chapters and files from our own departmental records were searched by hand. Eighty-nine surveys were included, with a total of 97,222 participants. Most studies were of poor methodological quality. Across surveys on CAM in general, the average one-year prevalence of use of CAM was 41.1% and the average lifetime prevalence was 51.8%. In methodologically sound surveys, the equivalent rates were 26.3% and 44%, respectively. In surveys with response rates >70%, average one-year prevalence was nearly threefold lower than in surveys with response rates between 21% and 50%. Herbal medicine was the most popular CAM, followed by homeopathy, aromatherapy, massage and reflexology. Many patients and consumers in the UK use CAM; healthcare professionals should therefore responsibly advise their patients about the use of CAM.

Let your intuition be your guide? Individual differences in the evidence-based practice attitudes of psychotherapists

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Despite increasing dissemination efforts, many psychotherapists still do not use treatments that are supported by research. Some have claimed that psychotherapists rely more on their clinical intuition than scientific evidence when making treatment decisions, but there is a paucity of research on this topic. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between intuition and therapists' attitudes towards evidence-based practices (EBPs).

METHODS

Psychotherapists from diverse professional backgrounds completed an Internet-based survey that assessed EBP attitudes, reliance on an intuitive thinking style, attitudes about alternative therapies and endorsement of erroneous health beliefs that are not supported by scientific evidence.

RESULTS

Regression analyses showed that an intuitive thinking style was associated with several dimensions of EBP attitudes, including more negative attitudes towards research, less openness to research-based treatments, and less willingness to use evidence-based treatments if required to do so, even after controlling for background factors such as education level. Furthermore, a tendency to rely on intuition was associated with more positive attitudes towards alternative therapies and the endorsement of erroneous health beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS

Most dissemination efforts targeted at psychotherapists focus only on education about EBPs. However, results of this study suggest that dissemination efforts may need to more directly address the potential barriers to using EBPs (i.e. reliance on intuition) to be optimally effective in changing therapists' attitudes and behaviours.

The type B behavior pattern as a moderating variable of the relationship between stressor chronicity and health behavior

To test the hypotheses that Type B individuals would engage in more preventive and less risk-related behaviors under high stress than Type As, 155 students were administered questionnaires pertaining to the TABP, daily hassles, and health behavior. As predicted, in six out of seven regression analyses, Type Bs engaged in more preventive, and fewer risk-related behaviors under high stress, than those who self-reported as Type A. Self-regulation mechanisms are proposed to help account for these effects.