Negative Expectations May Amplify Side Effects from the Pill,โฃ Study Suggests
A new study from the University โof Sheffield indicatesโฃ that psychological factors, specifically negative beliefs about medication, may contribute to the side effects experienced byโ women taking oral contraceptives. researchers found a โคstrong link between negative expectations and the likelihood of experiencing adverse effects,suggesting โthe “nocebo effect” – where negative expectations lead to negative outcomes – plays aโ significant role in women’s experiences with the pill.
Theโ research, published in Perspectives on Sexual and โReproductive Health, surveyed 275 women aged 18-45 who had used oral contraception within the previous 18 months. โThe studyโข revealed four key psychological factors associated with โreported sideโ effects, ranked byโ their influence: a pre-existing expectationโค that the medication woudl โbe harmful, low confidence in the medicine progress process, a belief that medicines are generally overused and harmful, โand a self-perception of sensitivity to medications.
nearly all participants (97%) reported experiencing at least one side effect. Over the โcourse of the 18-month study, just over half (54.2%) continued using the โขpill, while 45.8% discontinued, with 42 switching to alternative contraception methods.
“The contraceptive pill gets a lot of negative attention, particularly on social media,โ and we were interested in how these negative views could be influencing the โway women are experiencing oral contraception,” explained Dr. Rebecca Webster,from the University โคof Sheffield’s School of psychology,who supervised the study.
lead author Lorna Reid emphasized the โimportance of understanding the nocebo effect in this context. “It is important to acknowledgeโ how some women’s experiences of oral contraception are impacted by the nocebo effect.โข With this information, women can make more informed decisions about their use of oral โขcontraception. Thisโข is particularly so with younger women who may be exposed to more negative messaging around use of the โpill through greater use โคof media platforms.”
Researchers acknowledge the โขstudy’s limitations, noting โthe participant pool was predominantly young, white women. However, they view thisโค exploratory research as โa foundation for future investigations into interventions that could improve women’s experiences with oral contraception. The studyโ is titled Exploring the relationshipโ between medicine relatedโข beliefs and Side-effect experience among white oral contraceptive users in theโค UK (Reid, L., & Webster, R.K., 2025, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health; doi.org/10.1111/psrh.70012).
