SynthesisJournal of affective disorders2016
Heterogeneity in long-term trajectories of depressive symptoms: Patterns, predictors and outcomes.
Synthesis in Journal of affective disorders, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 162 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
162 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 332 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and Predictors of Depressive Symptom Trajectories in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.Brain and behavior · 2026Pooled it
- Depression Symptom Trajectories Following Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies from Adolescence to Young Adulthood.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2026Pooled it
- Characterising Long-Term Depressive Symptoms Post-brain Injury: A Systematic Review of Symptom Trajectory Groups and Their Predictors.Neuropsychology review · 2026Pooled it
- Prediction models for longitudinal trajectories of depression and anxiety: a systematic review.Journal of affective disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Social inequalities in antidepressant treatment outcomes: a systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2020Pooled it
- Factors associated with depression over time in head and neck cancer patients: A systematic review.Psycho-oncology · 2019Pooled it
- Longitudinal trends in HbADiabetes/metabolism research and reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Heterogeneity in perinatal depression: how far have we come? A systematic review.Archives of women's mental health · 2017Pooled it
- A group psychological intervention for postnatal depression in British mothers of South Asian origin - the ROSHNI-2 RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Trial
- The effectiveness of Problem Management Plus at 1-year follow-up for Syrian refugees in a high-income setting.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2024Trial
- Classes of depression symptom trajectories in patients with major depression receiving a collaborative care intervention.PloS one · 2018Trial
- Article
- The Nonlinear Interaction Effects of Negative Emotions and Self-Control on Developmental Trajectories of Early Adolescents' Internalizing Problems.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Article
- Violence across the lifespan and its association with depression: cumulative effects and psychosocial moderation in the UK Biobank.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Social position and antidepressant dose trajectories: a latent class analysis of a french cohort linked to the reimbursement register.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Childhood maltreatment and joint trajectories of social isolation and depression as predictors of cognitive impairment in late midlife: a prospective cohort study.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Childhood maltreatment and mid-life cognitive functioning: divergent psychosocial pathways linked to ethnoracial group.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Effects of sarcopenic obesity on depressive symptoms and their trajectories: findings from the CHARLS 2011-2020.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal trajectories and predictive factors of depressive symptomatology in Chinese elderly with hearing loss: a growth mixture modeling analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
102 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEvidence suggests that long-term trajectories of depressive symptoms vary greatly throughout the population, with some individuals experiencing few or no symptoms, some experiencing transient symptoms and others experiencing chronic depression. The goal of this paper is to review studies that examined heterogeneity in long-term trajectories of depressive symptoms and summarize the current knowledge regarding (a) the number and patterns of trajectories and (b) antecedents and outcomes associated with different trajectory patterns.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of literature in the Medline and PsychINFO databases. Articles were included if they (a) modeled trajectories of depressive symptoms, (b) used a group-based trajectory modeling approach, (c) followed participants for 5+ years and (d) had a sample size of at least 200.
resultsWe identified 25 studies from 24 separate cohorts. Most of the studies identified either 3 or 4 distinct trajectory classes. Trajectories varied in terms of severity (low, medium, high) and stability (stable, increasing, decreasing). In most studies, the majority of participants had consistently few or no depressive symptoms, but a notable minority (usually <10%) reported persistent symptoms. Predictors of trajectories with greater symptom burden included female gender, lower income/education and non-white race. Other predictors were specific to different populations (e.g. mothers, older adults). High symptom burden trajectories were associated with poor psychiatric and social outcomes. LIMITATIONS: Comparisons between studies were qualitative.
conclusionsTrajectories of depression symptoms in the general population are heterogeneous, with most individuals showing minimal symptoms but a notable minority experiencing chronic high symptom burden.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.