SynthesisBMC psychology2016
Triangulating meta-analyses: the example of the serotonin transporter gene, stressful life events and major depression.
Synthesis in BMC psychology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Verification Report of Three Meta-Analyses in Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation-Motor Learning Research.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Review
- More and Less Fear in Serotonin Transporter Knockout Mice.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2025Article
- The influence of genetic factors on the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms and the choice of coping strategies in reproductive tract cancer-a preliminary study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The Validity of Brief Phenotyping in Population Biobanks for Psychiatric Genome-Wide Association Studies on the Biobank Scale.Complex psychiatry · 2021Article
- Acupuncture Can Play an Antidepressant Role by Regulating the Intestinal Microbes and Neurotransmitters in a Rat Model of Depression.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2021Article
- Gut Microbiota Mediates the Preventive Effects of Dietary Capsaicin Against Depression-Like Behavior Induced by Lipopolysaccharide in Mice.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Article
- Charting the landscape of graphical displays for meta-analysis and systematic reviews: a comprehensive review, taxonomy, and feature analysis.BMC medical research methodology · 2020Review
- Examining the effect of 5-HTTLPR on depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women 1 year after initial breast cancer treatment.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2019Article
- Stress Induced Hormone and Neuromodulator Changes in Menopausal Depressive Rats.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Article
- Genetic variants in 5-HTTLPR, BDNF, HTR1A, COMT, and FKBP5 and risk for treated depression after cancer diagnosis.Depression and anxiety · 2017Article
- Psychology, replication & beyond.BMC psychology · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMeta-analysis is intended as a tool for the objective synthesis of evidence across a literature, in order to obtain the best evidence as to whether or not an association or effect is robust. However, as the use of meta-analysis has proliferated it has become increasingly clear that the results of a meta-analysis can be critically sensitive to methodological and analytical choices, so that different meta-analyses on the same topic can arrive at quite different conclusions.
resultsWe demonstrate the variability in results of different meta-analyses on the same topic, using the example of the literature on the putative moderating effect of 5-HTTLPR genotype on the association between stressful life events and major depression. We also extend on previous work by including a P-curve analysis of studies from this literature, drawn from a previous meta-analysis, in an attempt to resolve the discrepant conclusions arrived at by previous meta-analyses.
conclusionsWe highlight the divergent conclusions that can be reached when different methodological and analytical choices are taken, and argue that triangulating evidence using multiple evidence synthesis methods is preferable where possible, and that every effort should be made for meta-analyses to be as unbiased as possible (e.g., conducted by methodologists or as part of an adversarial collaboration between authors from opposing camps).
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Registered trials
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.