Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29083221›Full record

Trial reportJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2017

Testing positive for a genetic predisposition to depression magnifies retrospective memory for depressive symptoms.

Matthew S Lebowitz, Woo-Kyoung Ahn

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report 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. It is linked to trial NCT03998748 (Electrophysiological Correlates of Cognition in Depression), which is not on this map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT03998748 naterminatednot on this mapstarted 2019, after this paper: background citation

Electrophysiological Correlates of Cognition in Depression

TypeinterventionalSponsorMclean HospitalRan2019 to 2022Enrolled80ConditionsMajor Depressive DisorderArmsSham Genetic Feedback
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
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  4. Polygenic scores in psychiatric research and clinical practice.Medizinische Genetik : Mitteilungsblatt des Berufsverbandes Medizinische Genetik e.V · 2026
    Article
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  9. Article
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  15. Genetic feedback for psychiatric conditions: Where are we now and where are we going.American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics : the official publication of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics · 2020
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Matthew S LebowitzCenter for Research on Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Psychiatric, Neurologic and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University.
Woo-Kyoung AhnDepartment of Psychology, Yale University.

Funding

Center for Research on the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Psychiatric, Neurologic and Behavioral GeneticsP50HG007257 · NHGRI · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI APPELBAUM, PAUL STUART · 2013 to 2017
$5.4M
Understanding/Promoting Mental Health Literacy Based on Biological ExplanationsR01HG007653 · NHGRI · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI AHN, WOO-KYOUNG · 2013 to 2014
$824k
National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of Health; National Human Genome Research InstituteNHGRI NIH HHS P50 HG007257NHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG007653
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveDepression, like other mental disorders and health conditions generally, is increasingly construed as genetically based. This research sought to determine whether merely telling people that they have a genetic predisposition to depression can cause them to retroactively remember having experienced it.

methodU.S. adults (men and women) were recruited online to participate (Experiment 1: N = 288; Experiment 2: N = 599). After conducting a test disguised as genetic screening, we randomly assigned some participants to be told that they carried elevated genetic susceptibility to depression, whereas others were told that they did not carry this genetic liability or were told that they carried elevated susceptibility to a different disorder. Participants then rated their experience of depressive symptoms over the prior 2 weeks on a modified version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II.

resultsParticipants who were told that their genes predisposed them to depression generally reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology over the previous 2 weeks, compared to those who did not receive this feedback.

conclusionsGiven the central role of self-report in psychiatric diagnosis, these findings highlight potentially harmful consequences of personalized genetic testing in mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record

Indexed as

Genetic Predisposition to DiseaseAdolescentAdultAgedDepressionDepressive DisorderFemaleHumansMaleMemoryMental HealthMiddle AgedPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesRetrospective StudiesSelf ReportYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID29083221
PMCPMC5679424

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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.