Race and ethnicity moderate the associations between lifetime psychedelic use (MDMA and psilocybin) and psychological distress and suicidality

This survey study (n=484,732) used data from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health to explore the associations between naturalistic lifetime MDMA and psilocybin use. Race and ethnicity significantly moderated the associations between MDMA and psilocybin use and psychological distress and suicidality. For white participants, MDMA and psilocybin use lowered odds of all distress, whereas these associations were far fewer for racial and ethnic minorities.

Abstract

“Psychedelic compounds have been linked to salutary mental health outcomes in both naturalistic and clinical settings; however, current research on psychedelics suffers from a lack of inclusion and focus on racial and ethnic minorities. Thus, the goal of our study was to assess whether race and ethnicity moderate the associations that naturalistic lifetime MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) use and psilocybin use share with past month psychological distress and past year suicidality (ideation and planning). Using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) (2008–2019) (N = 484,732), we conducted survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression to conduct interaction tests and to assess the associations that MDMA use and psilocybin use share with the aforementioned outcomes for each racial and ethnic group. Race and ethnicity significantly moderated the associations between MDMA and psilocybin use and psychological distress and suicidality. For White participants, MDMA and psilocybin use conferred lowered odds of all distress and suicidality outcomes. For racial and ethnic minority participants, the associations between psychedelic use and suicidality were far fewer. These findings invite further research into the impact of race, ethnicity, and other identity factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, sexual/gender minority status) on the effects of psychedelic substances.”

Authors: Grant M. Jones & Matthew K. Nock