ArticleJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2017
The effect of depression on the decision to join a clinical trial.
Article in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Time trade-off health state utility values for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2023Pooled it
- Humour interventions for patients in palliative care-a randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Trial
- Ethical Issues and Challenges Regarding the Use of Mental Health Questionnaires in Public Health Nutrition Research.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Is it worth it? Greater risk aversion with lower life satisfaction among depressed individuals.Psychology, health & medicine · 2024Article
- Chronic pain trials often exclude people with comorbid depressive symptoms: A secondary analysis of 346 randomized controlled trials.Clinical trials (London, England) · 2023Article
- The placebo response rate and nocebo events in obesity pharmacological trials. A systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Article
- Long-Term Changes in Post-Stroke Depression, Emotional Incontinence, and Anger.Journal of stroke · 2021Article
- If You Host It Online, Who Will (and Will Not) Come? Individual and Partner Enrollment in a Web-Based Intervention for Distressed Couples.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2020Article
- "Will you complete this survey too?" Differences between individual versus dyadic samples in relationship research.Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · 2020Article
- Attitudes Regarding Enrollment in a Genetic Research Project: An Informed Consent Simulation Study Comparing Views of People With Depression, Diabetes, and Neither Condition.Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE · 2019Article
- Depression increases subjective stigma of chronic pain.Journal of affective disorders · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveClinical trials are necessary for evaluation of novel treatments. However, concerns have been raised about the vulnerability of depressed individuals when joining clinical trials, that is, about their abilities to make good decisions about clinical trial participation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether depression compromises decisions to join clinical trials, by comparing the decisions of 3 groups: depressed individuals, individuals suffering from chronic pain, and individuals with comorbid depression and chronic pain.
methodParticipants (depressed: n = 61; chronic pain: n = 60; comorbid: n = 58) completed, via a clinical interview, common decision-making tasks from the field of judgment and decision making (time trade-off and standard gamble). The rationality of decisions was defined as the concordance between the evaluations of their health and the amount of risk participants would accept to improve health.
resultsDepressed individuals made less rational decisions than individuals with chronic pain (partial η2 = 0.075, 90% confidence interval [CI] [0.009, 0.180]); however, the discrepancy was in the direction of risk aversion, suggesting that depressed individuals were overly cautious about clinical trial participation. Furthermore, this risk aversion was not limited to clinical trials for depression, but also extended to clinical trials for chronic pain (partial η2 = 0.041, 90% CI [0.002, 0.117]), suggesting that depressed individuals may be overly cautious in their health choices more broadly.
conclusionOur findings suggest that concerns about depressed individuals making overly risky "desperate" decisions is likely unfounded, and it is more likely that depressed individuals may forgo valuable care options in an attempt to avoid risk. (PsycINFO Database Record
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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.