The relationship between expectancy, anxiety, and the nocebo effect: a systematic review and meta-analysis with recommendations for future research

ABSTRACT

Despite the theoretical prominence of expectancy and anxiety as potential mechanisms of the nocebo effect, not all studies measure expectancy and/or anxiety, and there are inconsistent findings among those that do. The present study sought to systematically review and meta-analyse available data to evaluate the relationship between expectancy, anxiety and the nocebo effect. The two key questions were: (1) whether nocebo manipulations influence expectancy and anxiety; and (2) whether expectancy and anxiety are associated with the subsequent nocebo effect. Fifty-nine independent studies (n = 3129) were identified via database searches to 1st August 2021. Nocebo manipulations reliably increased negative expectancy with a large effect (g = .837) and state anxiety with a small effect (g = .312). Changes in expectancy and state anxiety due to the nocebo manipulation were associated with larger nocebo effects (r = .376 and .234, respectively). However, there was no significant association between dispositional anxiety and the nocebo effect. These findings support theories that rely on situationally-induced expectancy and anxiety, but not dispositional anxiety, to explain nocebo effects. Importantly, being malleable, these findings suggest that interventions that target maladaptive negative expectancies and state anxiety could be beneficial for reducing the harm nocebo effects cause across health settings. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Nocebo effect
• expectancy
• state anxiety
• dispositional anxiety
• meta-analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship awarded to Tessa Rooney and an Australian Research Council [grant number DP200101748] awarded to Ben Colagiuri.