Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40847100›Full record

Trial reportScientific reports2025

Investigating whether socially acquired nocebo effects can spread to other treatments.

Cosette Saunders, Winston Tan, Kirsten Barnes, Nicolas McNair, Ben Colagiuri

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Cosette SaundersSchool of Psychology, A18, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia. cosette.saunders@sydney.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2702-9044
Winston TanSchool of Psychology, A18, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4821-7877
Kirsten BarnesSchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8328-3998
Nicolas McNairSchool of Psychology, A18, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0956-4948
Ben ColagiuriSchool of Psychology, A18, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2157-2641

Funding

Australian Research Council Discovery Projects DP200101748
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Observation of another's treatment side effects can elicit side effects in the observer, even when the treatment is a placebo. This study investigated whether these socially acquired side effects can generalise to similar treatments. Healthy volunteers (N = 120) participated in a study ostensibly comparing the effect of two cognitive enhancers (placebos). Participants were randomised to one of four experimental groups. The three treatment groups comprised: social modelling of side effects associated with the same treatment; social modelling of side effects associated with the different treatment; and a verbal suggestion only group (i.e., no social modelling). The fourth group was a no-treatment control group. The primary outcome was severity of side effects reported. Groups that received placebos reported increased symptom severity, i.e., showed a nocebo effect. Surprisingly, primary outcome analysis revealed no significant enhancement of the nocebo effect due to social modelling. However, there was an additive effect of social modelling on general side effects (planned secondary outcome) and specifically for headaches and dizziness (exploratory analysis), both of which generalised across treatments. Therefore, preliminary findings suggest that socially induced nocebo side effects may not always occur, but when they do, they can generalise beyond identical treatments. This warrants replication and raises significant concern given the widespread sharing of treatment-related information, potentially contributing to the societal burden of nocebo effects.

Indexed as

Nocebo EffectAdultFemaleHealthy VolunteersHumansMaleMiddle AgedYoung AdultGeneralisationNoceboObservational learningSide effectsSocial modellingSymptoms

Identifiers

PMID40847100
PMCPMC12373901

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.