Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42698686›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2026

Complexity and risk factor research in mental disorders: better think twice.

Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross, Lena Ajdacic, Mario Müller, Ana Buadze, Sebastian Olbrich, Erich Seifritz, Roland von Känel, Martin Preisig, Caroline L Vandeleur

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

9 authors.

Vladeta Ajdacic-GrossDepartment of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Lena AjdacicSocial Sciences Institute, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Mario MüllerDepartment of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Ana BuadzeDepartment of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Sebastian OlbrichDepartment of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Erich SeifritzDepartment of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Roland von KänelDepartment of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Martin PreisigDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Epidemiology and Psychopathology Research Center, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Prilly, Switzerland.
Caroline L VandeleurDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Epidemiology and Psychopathology Research Center, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Prilly, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Complexity has become an increasingly prominent concept in research on mental disorders and pathological behaviors. This is more than due, as these conditions are not only complicated but genuinely complex. Complexity serves both as an analytic lens and as a force that pushes scientific progress forward. However, complexity science, as it currently stands, seems poised to deliver waves of new findings but no transformative breakthroughs. We propose rethinking complexity from a multisystem perspective which has been common in social sciences and naturally fits with the setting in mental and behavioral disorders, respectively. The key feature of multisystem complexity is heterogeneity of involved systems, heterogeneity of involved processes, their interactions and outcomes. Implementing a multisystem and heterogeneity perspective requires a thorough rethinking of methodology, while assessing failures, misunderstandings, requirements and prospects. The same is true for research directions such as risk factor research. Examples of implementations are drawn from research on suicide and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Indexed as

complexityheterogeneitymethodologyneurodevelopmental disordersrisk factorssuicidesystems

Identifiers

PMID42698686
PMCPMC13541701

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.