Ayahuasca in adolescence: Qualitative results

Introduction

Dobkin De Rios and colleagues place this study in the context of increasing interest in the sociocultural and developmental effects of ritual ayahuasca use. Earlier work has examined neuropsychological outcomes in members of the União do Vegetal (UDV) religious community, but qualitative knowledge about how adolescent members function socially, morally and within their families remains limited. The authors frame qualitative ethnographic data as complementary to neuropsychological testing, useful for understanding the social contexts in which sacramental ayahuasca use occurs and for interpreting quantitative findings. This paper sets out to compare qualitative characteristics of adolescents who participate in UDV ayahuasca ceremonies with peers who do not use ayahuasca. Using participant observation, interviews and focus groups, the study examines family relationships, peer networks, moral and ethical attitudes (including responses to constructed vignettes), lifetime substance experience and indicators of social integration or alienation. The aim is to characterise whether long‑term, legal, elder‑facilitated ritual use of a powerful hallucinogen is associated with differences in adolescent social functioning or values.