ArticleBrain, behavior, & immunity - health2020
The quality of research on mental health related to the COVID-19 pandemic: A note of caution after a systematic review.
Article in Brain, behavior, & immunity - health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 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.
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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health workforce: A rapid review.International journal of mental health nursing · 2023Pooled it
- Molecular Imaging Findings on Acute and Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 on the Brain: A Systematic Review.Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Assessing the FAIRness of survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.PloS one · 2026Article
- Examining the availability/findability of stimuli employed in social media and body image research.PloS one · 2025Article
- Analysis of the citation impact of Brazilian researchers in oral pathology and oral medicine over two decades.Medicina oral, patologia oral y cirugia bucal · 2024Article
- Mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young adults: empirical analysis of the past, present and the way forward.BJPsych open · 2023Article
- Increased psychological distress among young people before and during the fifth wave of COVID-19 after two years of pandemic in Hong Kong: a 6-month longitudinal study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Mental wellbeing among Danish employees during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a longitudinal study on the role of industry and working environment.European journal of public health · 2022Article
- The role of pre-pandemic depression for changes in depression, anxiety, and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a longitudinal probability sample of adults from Germany.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2022Article
- Massive covidization of research citations and the citation elite.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Acute COVID-19 severity and mental health morbidity trajectories in patient populations of six nations: an observational study.The Lancet. Public health · 2022Observational
- Coronavirus infections from 2002 to 2021: neuropsychiatric manifestations.Sleep medicine · 2022Article
- Exploring COVID-19 research credibility among Spanish scientists.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Longitudinal development of depression and anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: Findings from a population-based probability sample survey.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Post-COVID-19 human memory impairment: A PRISMA-based systematic review of evidence from brain imaging studies.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Review
- An Online Assessment to Evaluate the Role of Cognitive Biases and Emotion Regulation Strategies for Mental Health During the COVID-19 Lockdown of 2020: Structural Equation Modeling Study.JMIR mental health · 2021Article
- The rapid, massive growth of COVID-19 authors in the scientific literature.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- Adjusting the use of preprints to accommodate the 'quality' factor in response to COVID-19.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2021Article
- Monitoring the psychological, social, and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the population: Context, design and conduct of the longitudinal COVID-19 psychological research consortium (C19PRC) study.International journal of methods in psychiatric research · 2021Review
- Post-Traumatic Growth and Stress-Related Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a National Representative Sample: The Role of Positive Core Beliefs About the World and Others.Journal of happiness studies · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsSARS-CoV-2 pandemic has spurred scientific production in diverse fields of knowledge, including mental health. Yet, the quality of current research may be challenged by the urgent need to provide immediate results to understand and alleviate the consequences of the pandemic. This study aims to examine compliance with basic methodological quality criteria and open scientific research practices on the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD AND
resultsTwenty-eight studies were identified through a systematic search. Most of them met the requirements related to reporting key methodological and statistical information. However, the widespread use of convenience samples and the lack of a priori power analysis, coupled with low compliance with open science recommendations, such as pre-registration of studies and availability of databases, raise concerns about the validity, generalisability, and reproducibility of the findings.
conclusionsWhile the importance of offering rapid evidence-based responses to mitigate mental health problems stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic is undeniable, it should not be done at the expense of sacrificing scientific rigor. The results of this study may stimulate researchers and funding agencies to try to orchestrate efforts and resources and follow standard codes of good scientific practice.
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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.