A Belmont University senior ran a small study from February to March and found students were less stressed after an aromatherapy session whether they already knew the benefits or not.
“As of right now, I haven't seen a big difference on if essential oils affect people based off common belief or research, so I will be more curious to see if there’s any change at all,” said Solaris Bell, a transfer student studying psychological science.
Bell set up a sample study of about 45-50 students testing whether knowing the benefits of essential oils on mental health impacts their efficacy. The study was comprised of several sessions in a McWhorter Hall lab on Belmont University’s campus.
The study consisted of a survey at the beginning and a 15-minute aromatherapy session where the group members talked to each other and essential oils were diffused close by into the room. There was another survey at the end to measure the effects of the aromatherapy session.
Belmont student and study participant Madison Gaugler found the study simple but a pleasant time-out, she said.
“It was a nice break. I found it really helpful to just disconnect and talk with other people,” said Gaugler.
The student found talking to the other participants therapeutic and wasn’t sure how much that affected her results, she said.
“I think with things like this, there is always a high chance of the placebo effect. Personally, I'm someone who finds talking very helpful, so I'm sure most of what I got from it was from the talking section of it,” Gaugler said.
Because of the nature of the study, Bell didn’t tell the participants she was testing a placebo effect from common knowledge of essential oils. Bell planned to reveal the full intent of the study and anything that was previously withheld from the participants once she finished all sessions, she said.
“Most people aren't told there is a common belief in a research group and that is because they don’t know that they’re being tested based off their belief, they just think that it’s being tested based off the benefits of it,” said Bell.
Dr. Patrick Morse, chair and associate professor of psychology at Belmont, was Bell’s faculty adviser for the study and met with her once a week while developing the project. Bell immediately took the lead and Morse mostly helped guide her in the right direction, he said.
“I would say she deserves most, if not all, the credit,” said Morse.
“In terms of the content and the topic and the expertise, that's her doing the reading, her putting together the pieces, her designing the study, her collecting the data and everything.”
As the adviser overseeing the study, Morse wanted to create an opportunity for Bell to learn the tools needed to be a researcher, he said.
“My desire and outcome as the faculty adviser is ‘Is the student learning how to do thoughtful research? Are they learning these skills? Are they being able to make autonomous decisions?
Are they just growing as a researcher?’”
While the study was very small in numbers, few large-scale studies on aromatherapy exist, and this student-run research could pave the way for more data in the future, Bell said.
“As far as the outcome goes, it’s probably not going to be too scientifically valid because unfortunately with sample size and then how many different versions of it I’m running, but if there are any physiological changes before and after it will at least add to the literature out there.”
Bell doesn’t currently have plans to conduct more research on campus. Instead she’s focused on graduating, working towards becoming a counselor and conducting case studies through her own practice, she said.
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This article was written by Haley Ramsey
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