A Longitudinal Study of Resilience Among Participants Attending Ayahuasca Retreats in Latin America

Background and Purpose: Ayahuasca, a psychoactive drug from the Amazon basin, may cause a dynamic set of both positive and negative acute effects. Some of the most common acute effects involve challenging physical (e.g., nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) and emotional (e.g., frightening hallucinations, paranoia) experiences, and yet many people also report that these challenging effects contribute to healing and beneficial outcomes. A Resilience Framework was applied in this study to enhance our understanding regarding the ways in which people experience different acute effects of ayahuasca, especially the acute challenging effects, and achieve positive psychospiritual outcomes. The current study is amongst the first study to assess whether resilience influences acute ayahuasca effects and if resilience is a potential moderator of the relationship between acute ayahuasca effects and psychospiritual outcomes. Methods: This study adopted a longitudinal study design with three timepoints (baseline before ayahuasca retreats: T1; right after retreats: T2; one-month follow-up: T3). In total, 267 participants completed the T1 survey and enrolled in this study, 247 completed the T2 survey, and 233 completed the T3 survey. There are 233 participants who completed all three timepoints (M_age=41.20, SD=11.41; Residency in North America=86.7%, biological female=56.2%, White/Caucasian individuals=83.3%, attended/completed college degree=95.3%, reported past psychedelic use experience before retreats=79.4%, treatment intention by attending ayahuasca retreats=83.7%, spiritual improvement intention=85.4%). A series of multiple regression analysis and canonical correlation analysis were performed to address the research aims. Results: Findings from hierarchical regression analyses revealed that baseline resilience was a significant predictor of the acute challenging experiences of ayahuasca after controlling for neuroticism (F(1,230)=5.797, p=0.017, Adjusted R²=.053). There was a positive association between resilience and acute challenging experience (β=0.183, t=2.408, p=0.017) indicating higher levels of baseline resilience predicted more intense acute challenging experience of ayahuasca. Additionally, results from multiple regression analyses with interaction terms demonstrated significant moderation effects of baseline resilience on the relationship between acute challenging experiences and the search for meaning in life (β=0.154, t=2.444, p=0.015) as well as on the relationship between uncomfortable ayahuasca experiences and the search for meaning in life (β=0.134, t=2.134, p=0.034) while controlling for neuroticism. Lastly, findings revealed a significant positive canonical correlation (F_144,1659.596=2.978, R_c=0.761, p<.001) between the independent set of acute effects of ayahuasca (emotional breakthrough, mystical experience, psychological insight experience) and dependent set of psychospiritual outcomes (life satisfaction, meaning in life, spirituality well-being, and enduring effects on sense of personal well-being, life’s purpose/meaning, social relationships, attitudes about life/self/death, mood, behaviors, and spirituality levels). The canonical correlation explained 55.94% of the variance in the model. Conclusions and Implications: The study findings contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of ayahuasca effects and resilience, highlighting ayahuasca’s therapeutic potential from a resilience standpoint. The innovative attempt in adopting a Resilience Framework has provided unique perspectives of the complex mechanisms during natural healing process which also emphasized the importance to be culturally sensitive when integrating traditional healing wisdom in scientific and clinical approaches. Resilience promotion programs before retreats and integration programs after retreats should be considered to improve participants’ overall experience and related outcomes.