ArticleBJPsych open2023
The impact of antidepressants and human development measures on the prevalence of sadness, worry and unhappiness: cross-national comparison.
Article in BJPsych open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Discontinuing antidepressant medication: a qualitative evidence synthesis and logic model based on health professionals' views.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Gender differences in adolescent anxiolytic, hypnotic and sedative use across 32 European countries: a multilevel analysis of the influence of country-level gender inequality and economic factors.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- Exposing the loci of bias: a taxonomical exploration of sources of bias in population mental health research.Population health metrics · 2025Review
- Incorporating Complexity and System Dynamics into Economic Modelling for Mental Health Policy and Planning.PharmacoEconomics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Depression is a major public health concern. Depressed individuals have received increasing treatment with antidepressants in Western countries. In this study, we examine the relationship among individual symptoms (sadness, worry and unhappiness), human development factors and antidepressant use in 29 OECD countries. We report that increased antidepressant prescribing is not associated with decreased prevalence of sadness, worry or unhappiness. However, income, education and life expectancy (measured using the Human Development Index) are associated with lower prevalence of all these symptoms. This suggests that increasing spending on depression treatment may not be as effective as general public health interventions at reducing depression in communities.
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Registered trials
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