Journal article : Review
Clinical psychedelic research in adolescents: a scoping review and overview of ethical considerations
- Abstract:
- The potential use of psychedelic-assisted therapy for adolescents with mental illness has sparked both interest and concern. Modern psychedelic research has focused on adults, and adolescents younger than 18 years are typically excluded due to ethical and legal challenges. To explore whether adolescents have been included in 21st century psychedelic research, we conducted a scoping review of the medical literature from January, 2000, to April, 2025. Three trial registrations and one trial plan showed involvement of participants younger than 18 years, but none of these trials were completed and no trial findings have been published. The proposed studies would investigate 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted or psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy as an intervention for adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder, autism with social anxiety, or self-harm. Ethical approval and recruitment details were inconsistently reported. This scarcity of data highlights a major evidence gap that could hinder informed care. Given that many medications are used off-label in adolescents, we argue for cautious, ethically grounded research-starting with older adolescents with the highest foreseeable benefit-risk ratio due to special circumstances-to better understand the potential risks and benefits of psychedelic therapies for this vulnerable population.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 284.3KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1016/s2352-4642(25)00208-1
Authors
+ Wellcome Trust
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/029chgv08
- Grant:
- 203132/Z/16/Z
- 226801/Z/22/Z
- 221152/Z/20/Z
+ National Institute for Health and Care Research
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0187kwz08
- Grant:
- NIHR203316
+ National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/00190t495
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Journal:
- Lancet Child and Adolescent Health More from this journal
- Volume:
- 9
- Issue:
- 10
- Pages:
- 744-752
- Publication date:
- 2025-10-01
- Acceptance date:
- 2025-06-30
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2352-4650
- ISSN:
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2352-4642
- Pmid:
-
40908054
- Language:
-
English
- Subtype:
-
Review
- Pubs id:
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2286119
- Local pid:
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pubs:2286119
- Deposit date:
-
2025-11-11
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Elsevier Ltd.
- Copyright date:
- 2025
- Rights statement:
- Copyright: © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
- Notes:
- The author accepted manuscript (AAM) of this paper has been made available under the University of Oxford's Open Access Publications Policy, and a CC BY public copyright licence has been applied.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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