Translation and cultural adaptation of the States of Consciousness Questionnaire (SOCQ) and statistical validation of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30) in Brazilian Portuguese

SCHENBERG, EDUARDO EKMAN; TÓFOLI, LUÍS FERNANDO; REZINOVSKY, DANIEL; SILVEIRA, DARTIU XAVIER DA

doi:10.1590/0101-60830000000105

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Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo)

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Original article • Arc. Clin. Psychiatr. 44 (1) • Jan-Feb 2017 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-60830000000105 copy

Translation and cultural adaptation of the States of Consciousness Questionnaire (SOCQ) and statistical validation of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30) in Brazilian Portuguese

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Background

The States of Consciousness Questionnaire (SOCQ) was developed to assess the occurrence features of the change in consciousness induced by psilocybin, and includes the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ), developed to assess the ocurrence of mystical experiences in altered states of consciousness.

Objective

To translate the SOCQ to Brazilian Portuguese and validate the 30-item MEQ.

Methods

The SOCQ was translated to Brazilian Portuguese and backtranslated into English. The two English versions were compared and differences corrected, resulting in a Brazilian translation. Using an internet-survey, 1504 Portuguese-speaking subjects answered the translated version of the SOCQ. The 4-factor version of MEQ30 was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis.

Results

A Brazilian Portuguese version of the SOCQ was made available. Goodness-of-fit indexes indicated that data met the factorial structure proposed for the English MEQ30. Factors presented excellent to acceptable reliability according to Cronbach’s alpha: mystical (0.95); positive mood (0.71); transcendence of time/space (0.83); and ineffability (0.81).

Discussion

The Brazilian Portuguese version of the MEQ30 is validated and it fits in the factorial structure performed on the original English version. The SOCQ is also available to the Brazilian Portuguese speaking population, allowing studies in different languages to be conducted and compared systematically.

Mystical; psychedelic; consciousness; altered; psychometric

Demographic information				Information about the reported psychedelic experience
		n	%			n	%
Sex				Substance used
	Male	836	55,6%		Ayahuasca	636	42,3%
	Female	668	44,4%		Mushrooms/psilocybin	152	10,1%
Age					LSD	535	35,6%
	18-21	343	22,8%		MDMA/ecstasy	91	6,1%
	22-28	513	34,1%		DMT/changa	22	1,5%
	29-40	489	32,5%		Peyote/wachuma/mescaline	18	1,2%
	≥ 41	159	10,6%		Argyreia nervosa/LSA	17	1,1%
Educational level					Salvia divinorum	11	0,7%
	Elementary or less	49	3,3%		Jurema	10	0,7%
	High school	709	47,1%		25-NBOMe	6	0,4%
	University	559	37,2%		Other	6	0,4%
	Masters/Doctorate	187	12,4%
Monthly income (US$)				Time since experience
	< 525	137	9,1%		< 24 hours	117	7,8%
	525-950	292	19,4%		24 - 48 hours	77	5,1%
	951-1660	368	24,5%		48 hours - 1 week	162	10,8%
	1661-3510	417	27,7%		1 week - 1 month	405	26,9%
	3511-6180	197	13,1%		1 - 6 months	341	22,7%
	> 6180	93	6,2%		6 months - 1 year	105	7,0%
Occupational status					> 1 year	297	19,7%
	Student	471	31,3%
	Employee	301	20,0%
	Freelancer	296	19,7%	Ritual use
	Civil servant	179	11,9%		No	843	56,1%
	Businessman	121	8,0%		Yes	661	43,9%
	Unemployed	87	5,8%
	Other	49	3,3%
Has a religion				Guided use
	No	1.089	72,4%		No	760	50,5%
	Yes	415	27,6%		Yes	744	49,5%

Index	Estimate	Reference
Goodness-of-fit index (GFI)	0.8387	≥ 0.85
Adjusted GFI	0.8101	≥ 0.80
Bentler comparative fit index	0.8751	≥ 0.90
Bentler-Bonett normed fit index	0.8620	≥ 0.90
Root mean square error of approximation estimate	0.0733	≤ 0.08

Factor/Item	Load
Factor 1: Mystical
Internal Unity
35. Freedom from the limitations of your personal self and feeling a unity or bond with what was felt to be greater than your personal self.	0.85
41. Experience of pure being and pure awareness (beyond the world of sense impressions).	0.83
54. Experience of oneness in relation to an “inner world” within.	0.86
77. Experience of the fusion of your personal self into a larger whole.	0.81
83. Experience of unity with ultimate reality.	0.87
12. Feeling that you experienced eternity or infinity.	0.81
External Unity
14. Experience of oneness or unity with objects and/or persons perceived in your surroundings.	0.79
47. Experience of the insight that “all is One”.	0.86
74. Awareness of the life or living presence in all things.	0.85
Noetic Quality
9. Gain of insightful knowledge experienced at an intuitive level.	0.72
22. Certainty of encounter with ultimate reality	0.85
69. You are convinced now, as you look back on your experience, that in it you encountered ultimate reality	0.81
Sacredness
36. Sense of being at a spiritual height.	0.85
55. Sense of reverence.	0.80
73. Feeling that you experienced something profoundly sacred and holy.	0.87
Factor 2: Positive Mood
5. Experience of amazement.	0.88
18. Feelings of tenderness and gentleness	0.66
30. Feelings of peace and tranquility.	0.73
43. Experience of ecstasy	0.85
80. Sense of awe or awesomeness.	0.88
87. Feelings of joy.	0.90
Factor 3: Transcendence of Time and Space
2. Loss of your usual sense of time.	0.71
15. Loss of your usual sense of space.	0.73
29. Loss of usual awareness of where you were.	0.46
34. Sense of being “outside of” time, beyond past and future.	0.74
48. Being in a realm with no space boundaries.	0.80
65. Experience of timelessness.	0.83
Factor 4: Ineffability
6. Sense that the experience cannot be described adequately in words.	0.87
23. Feeling that you could not do justice to your experience by describing it in words.	0.95
86. Feeling that it would be difficult to communicate your own experience to others who have not had similar experiences.	0.79

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[1] Address for correspondence: Eduardo Ekman Schenberg. Rua Teixeira da Silva, 251, ap. 41 – 04002-030 – São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Telephone: +55 (11) 97603-0285. E-mail: eduardoschenberg@gmail.com