ArticleCommunications psychology2025
People overlook subtractive solutions to mental health problems.
Article in Communications psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- The psychology of health.Communications psychology · 2026Article
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
To solve problems, people tend to add new components to them rather than subtract from them. Across eight experimental and naturalistic studies, we examined if more additive (to start something new or do more) than subtractive advice (to stop or do less) is given when humans and artificial intelligence give mental health advice. Compared to subtractive advice, additive advice was recommended more frequently and was rated as more effective and feasible. Several moderators of this effect are explored: Older people are more additive than younger people, who we are advising (e.g., strangers/friends) matters, as does the type of pre-existing mental health-affecting activities (e.g., gambling versus avoiding exercise). People overlook subtractive advice when advising others and instead tell them to do more. Future research must explore the contribution of this additive advice bias to people's sense of being overwhelmed.
Identifiers
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.