Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33736740›Full record

Trial reportEpidemiology and psychiatric sciences2021

A three-arm randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of a positive psychology and social networking intervention in promoting mental health among HIV-infected men who have sex with men in China.

J Li, P K H Mo, C W Kahler, J T F Lau

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
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

4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

J LiSchool of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9571-7359
P K H MoDivision of Behavioral Health and Health Promotion, The School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9822-5424
C W KahlerDepartment of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, USA.
J T F LauDivision of Behavioral Health and Health Promotion, The School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2344-7107
Sun Yat-sen University · CNChinese University of Hong Kong · HKJohn Brown University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsThere is a lack of mental health promotion and treatment services targeting HIV-positive men who have sex with men (HIVMSM) in China. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mental health promotion efficacy of an online intervention that combined Three Good Things (TGT) with electronic social networking (TGT-SN) and an intervention that used TGT only (TGT-only), compared with a control group.

methodsWe conducted a randomised controlled trial among HIVMSM in Chengdu, China. The participants were randomly assigned to the TGT-SN, TGT-only, and control groups. The participants in the TGT-SN group were divided into five social network groups and asked to post brief messages to the group about three good things that they had experienced and for which they felt grateful. The participants in the TGT-only group were only required to write down their three good things daily without sharing them with others. The control group received information about mental health promotion once a week for a month. The primary outcome was probable depression. Secondary outcomes were anxiety, positive and negative affect, gratitude, happiness and social support. These outcomes were assessed at baseline, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the intervention. Repeated-measures analyses were conducted using generalised estimation equations. The study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-TRC-13003252).

resultsBetween June 2013 and May 2015, 404 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the TGT-SN (n = 129), TGT-only (n = 139) or control group (n = 136). The main effects of TGT-SN (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.75, 95% CI 0.52-1.09; p = 0.131) and TGT-only (aOR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.57-1.21; p = 0.332) in reducing depression were statistically non-significant. The participants of the TGT-SN group showed significantly lower anxiety symptoms (aOR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.43-0.89; p = 0.009) and negative affect (β = -1.62, 95% CI 2.98 to -0.26; p = 0.019) over time compared with those of the control group. No significant main effect was found for any secondary outcomes for the TGT-only group.

conclusionsThe novel intervention combining the TGT exercise with electronic social networking was found effective in reducing anxiety and negative affect among HIVMSM.

Indexed as

Health PromotionHIV InfectionsHomosexuality, MaleMental HealthChinaHumansMalePsychology, PositiveSocial NetworkingTreatment OutcomeChinadepressionmen who have sex with menPositive psychologyrandomised controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID33736740
PMCPMC8061281
OpenAlexW3135964994

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.