ArticleFrontiers in psychology2020
How Do Nocebo Phenomena Provide a Theoretical Framework for the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: A systematic review.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness of two interventions to optimize expectations in psychosomatic rehabilitation of post-COVID patients: study protocol for an integrative approach.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Confirmation of COVID-19 infection status and reporting of Long COVID symptoms in a population-based birth cohort: No evidence of a nocebo effect.Journal of health psychology · 2024Article
- Reactogenicity and safety of COVID-19 primary immunisation and booster vaccination regimens: a comparative observational cohort study.BMC medicine · 2023Observational
- Psychological distress, perceived stress and nocebo effect (multifood adverse reaction) in irritable bowel syndrome patients.Journal of education and health promotion · 2023Article
- Long COVID as a functional somatic symptom disorder caused by abnormally precise prior expectations during Bayesian perceptual processing: A new hypothesis and implications for pandemic response.SAGE open medicine · 2023Review
- Placebo: a brief updated review.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2022Review
- Validation of a COVID-19 mental health and wellness survey questionnaire.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Adverse events of active and placebo groups in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine randomized trials: A systematic review.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2022Article
- Psychotropics and COVID-19: An analysis of safety and prophylaxis.L'Encephale · 2021Article
- Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health and Motor Deficits in Cuban Patients with Cerebellar Ataxias.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2021Article
- Are Sleep Problems Related to Psychological Distress in Healthy Aging during the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
- The Role of Neuropsychological Factors in Perceived Threat of SARS-CoV-2 in Healthy Ageing.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- A chain mediation model on COVID-19 symptoms and mental health outcomes in Americans, Asians and Europeans.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- COVID-19 and the Political Economy of Mass Hysteria.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adults With a Neurologically-Related Mobility Disability During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- [Vermeidbares Leid: Noceboeffekte und die COVID-19-Pandemie].Complementary medicine researchArticle
- Article
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5 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is a major health issue, which leads to psychological and behavioural changes. In particular, among various negative feelings, fear seems to be one of the main emotional reactions that can be as contagious as the virus itself. The actual pandemic is likely to function as an important stressor, especially in terms of chronic anxiety and lack of control over the succession of unforeseeable environmental events. In this direction, the psychological impact of previous quarantine measures showed important negative psychological effects, including post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTTS) with long-lasting effects. The presence of psychological discomfort and disturbances due to negative contextual factors can be studied using the nocebo phenomenon as a possible theoretical explanatory framework. Although in the absence of studies linking nocebo to Covid-19 and data-driven evidence, the context of the actual pandemic may be seen as a fertile ground for amplified discomfort and anxiety. The media provide dramatic and negative descriptions and often present conflicting sources of information, which can lead to physical and mental health problems, diminishing response to treatment. This can be worse when supported by conspiracy theories or misinformation. The aim of this perspective review is to propose a new theoretical framework for the COVID-19 pandemic, which should be supported by future empirical studies. In particular, the negative contextual factors, which can predispose individuals to psychological distress and the onset of the nocebo phenomena will be presented here, in order to suggest possible guidelines to mitigate the devastating effects of COVID-19.
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