Trial reportPsychopharmacology2015
MDMA: a social drug in a social context.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2024Pooled it
- Drug-drug interactions between psychiatric medications and MDMA or psilocybin: a systematic review.Psychopharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the MDMA Model to Address Social Impairment in Autism.Current neuropharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The empathogen 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, but not methamphetamine, increases feelings of global trust.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Trial
- The 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine enhances early visual processing for salient socio-emotional stimuli.The European journal of neuroscience · 2024Trial
- Subjective and neurocognitive profiling of clinical doses of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in healthy volunteers: implications for therapeutic use.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Investigating the impact of serotonergic psychedelic drugs, MDMA and ketamine on social cognition in psychiatric disorders: A scoping review.Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- History, pharmacology and therapeutic mechanisms of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).British journal of pharmacology · 2026Review
- Bringing MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD to traditional healthcare systems: tending to set and setting.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- MDMA as well as amphetamine and alcohol increase feelings of social closeness in healthy adults.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Human laboratory models of reward in substance use disorder.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2024Review
- Subjective long-term emotional and social effects of recreational MDMA use: the role of setting and intentions.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Psychostimulants and social behaviors.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Review
- Drug-induced social connection: both MDMA and methamphetamine increase feelings of connectedness during controlled dyadic conversations.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Role of social context in addiction etiology and recovery.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2023Review
- MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2022Review
- Potential processes of change in MDMA-Assisted therapy for social anxiety disorder: Enhanced memory reconsolidation, self-transcendence, and therapeutic relationships.Human psychopharmacology · 2022Review
- A proposed mechanism for the MDMA-mediated extinction of traumatic memories in PTSD patients treated with MDMA-assisted therapy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Review
- Lack of evidence for positive reinforcing and prosocial effects of MDMA in pair-housed male and female rats.European journal of pharmacology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleThe drug ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy," "molly") is thought to produce prosocial effects and enhance social interaction. However, in most laboratory studies to date, the participants have been tested under nonsocial conditions, which may not simulate the effects the drug produces in more naturalistic social settings.
methodsHealthy experienced MDMA users participated in three laboratory sessions in which they received MDMA (0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg or placebo, double blind). They were randomly assigned to one of three social conditions, in which they were tested alone (solitary (SOL); N = 10), in the presence of a research assistant (research assistant present (RAP); N = 11) or in the presence of another participant who also received the drug (other participant present (OPP); N = 11).
resultsAs expected, MDMA increased heart rate and blood pressure and produced positive subjective effects in all the three groups. It also increased ratings of attractiveness of another person and increased social interaction in RAP and OPP. The social context affected certain responses to the drug. The effects of MDMA were greater in the OPP condition, compared to the SOL or RAP conditions, on measures of "feel drug," "dizzy," and on cardiovascular. But responses to the drug on other measures, including social behavior, did not differ across the conditions.
conclusionsThese findings provide some support for the idea that drugs produce greater effects when they are used in the presence of other drug users. However, the influence of the social context was modest, and it remains to be determined whether other variables related to social context would substantially alter the effects of MDMA or other drugs.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.