Positive Affect, Negative Affect, and Negative Effects During a Phenomenological Hypnotic Assessment Within a Substance Abuse Population

Abstract

Positive and negative affect generated while using the Phenomenology of Consciousness - Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP) on a sample of drug and alcohol users were predicted using several variables. The results were then cross-validated on a second, smaller sample. The results suggest that, although some negative affect was reported, the PCI-HAP was more likely to generate positive, rather than negative, affect. Positive affect was related to the vividness of a suggested hypnotic dream during hypnosis and also hypnotic depth; these findings were replicated upon cross-validation. Although negative affect correlated with the Dissociative Experiences Scale scores and falling asleep, these results did not replicate upon cross-validation. Mild transient negative effects (e.g., headache) were reported by about 10% of the participants in a smaller, second sample. Implications of the results are discussed.