'Alcohol is Magic': Words of Caution for Open-Label Placebo Interventions in College Students

Heavy drinking remains prevalent and problematic on college campuses. 'Open-Label Placebos' (OLPs) have gained recent attention as interventions for various disorders. The current aim was to carry out two feasibility studies of OLP interventions for college students. In Study 1, of-age students readily consumed the fake alcohol, and experienced slight beneficial effects (N=26). In Study 2, our enhanced OLP intervention for underage students backfired; we increased, rather than decreased, their intentions to drink real alcohol (N=83). The underage students most commonly reported wanting alcohol to ease social discomfort, and perhaps felt that the OLP left their wishes unanswered. Overall, the results suggest that OLP research should be approached with caution. Filtered prompts and behavioral experiments might re-direct and strengthen outcomes. Keywords: alcohol, open-label placebo, college
Heavy drinking has continued to be prevalent and problematic on college campuses for at least forty years (Schulenberg, Patrick, Johnston, O'Malley, Bacnman & Miech, 2021). Far from a benign rite [...]