SynthesisTranslational psychiatry2022
Effect of antidepressants on functioning and quality of life outcomes in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Translational psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of interventions for anxiety and depression in children and young people: an umbrella review of meta-analyses.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Well-being as a primary endpoint in clinical trials: a call for consensus.Npj mental health research · 2026Review
- Environmental enrichment as an intervention to prevent behavioral and neurobiological consequences of maternal separation in rodents: a scope review.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Antidepressant use in German adolescents with a first recorded diagnosis of depression: a retrospective cohort study.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Prevalence of Antidepressant Prescription in Adolescents Newly Diagnosed with Depression in Germany.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- A scoping review of the effects of mushroom and fungus extracts in rodent models of depression and tests of antidepressant activity.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- State of the Evidence for Use of Psychotropic Medications in School-Age Youth.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Identification of Plasma Inflammatory Markers of Adolescent Depression Using the Olink Proteomics Platform.Journal of inflammation research · 2023Article
- Editorial: Exploration of major depressive disorder among children and adolescents: from pathogenesis to intervention.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Remission of symptoms is not equal to functional recovery: Psychosocial functioning impairment in major depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Functioning and quality of life (QOL) are typical outcomes assessed in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD); however, meta-analytical evidence remains scarce. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess functioning and QOL antidepressant outcomes in this population. Eight electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, LILACS, and ProQuest Dissertation Abstracts) were searched for double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) up to July 31, 2020. RCTs that compared antidepressants with placebo for treating functioning and QOL in children and adolescents with MDD were included. Primary outcomes were mean change scores of functioning and QOL scales from baseline to post-treatment. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine whether results were affected by moderator variables (e.g., medication type, age, sample size, and treatment duration). From 7284 publications, we included 17 RCTs (all 17 assessed functioning and 4 assessed QOL outcomes) including 2537 participants. Antidepressants showed significant positive effects on functioning (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.09-0.25, p < 0.0001) but not on QOL (SMD = 0.11, 95% CI = -0.02 to 0.24, p = 0.093), with no significant heterogeneity. The subgroup analysis showed that second-generation antidepressants (especially fluoxetine, escitalopram, and nefazodone), but not first-generation antidepressants, led to significant improvements in functioning. Antidepressants (especially second generation) improve functioning but not QOL in children and adolescents with MDD. However, well-designed clinical studies using large samples are needed to confirm these findings.
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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.