SynthesisBMJ mental health2023
Exploring the efficacy of psychotherapies for depression: a multiverse meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMJ mental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analysis of preventive psychosocial interventions against depressive and anxiety symptoms in older adults.Psychological medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Evidence from high-income countries on the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions to improve mental health, wellbeing and quality of life for adults living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Pooled it
- WISE-Therapy (What's Important: Schedule and Engage) and bouldering psychotherapy for depression: A randomized clinical trial.BMC medicine · 2026Trial
- Use and Perceived Helpfulness of Different Intervention Strategies in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Depression.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Multiverse analysis of machine learning: classification between groups defined by suicidal ideation screening status using acoustic features in college students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Article
- Psychotherapy use among migrants: a register-based longitudinal study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2024Article
- From movement to motivation: a proposed framework to understand the antidepressant effect of exercise.Translational psychiatry · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHundreds of randomised controlled trials and dozens of meta-analyses have examined psychotherapies for depression-yet not all points in the same direction. Are these discrepancies a result of specific meta-analytical decisions or do most analytical strategies reaching the same conclusion?
objectiveWe aim to solve these discrepancies by conducting a multiverse meta-analysis containing all possible meta-analyses, using all statistical methods. STUDY SELECTION AND ANALYSIS: We searched four bibliographical databases (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials), including studies published until 1 January 2022. We included all randomised controlled trials comparing psychotherapies with control conditions without restricting the type of psychotherapy, target group, intervention format, control condition and diagnosis. We defined all possible meta-analyses emerging from combinations of these inclusion criteria and estimated the resulting pooled effect sizes with fixed-effect, random-effects, 3-level, robust variance estimation,
findingsA total of 21 563 records were screened, and 3584 full texts were retrieved; 415 studies met our inclusion criteria containing 1206 effect sizes and 71 454 participants. Based on all possible combinations between inclusion criteria and meta-analytical methods, we calculated 4281 meta-analyses. The average summary effect size for these meta-analyses was Hedges' CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The multiverse meta-analysis revealed the overall robustness of the effectiveness of psychotherapies for depression. Notably, meta-analyses that included studies with a high risk of bias, compared the intervention with wait-list control groups, and not correcting for publication bias produced larger effect sizes.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.