Publication Bias and Psychotherapy

Last registered on November 10, 2017
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Publication Bias and Psychotherapy
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002574
Initial registration date
November 08, 2017

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
November 10, 2017, 12:56 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Johannes Haushofer
Affiliation
Stockholm University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Pim Cuijpers
PI Affiliation
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2017-11-08
End date
2018-01-02
Keywords
Health
Additional Keywords
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Meta-analysis, Publication Bias, Questionable Research Practices
JEL code(s)
C12
Secondary IDs
Abstract
A meta-analysis of randomized control trials (RCTs) which investigate the effectiveness of psychotherapies for treating depression. We will analyze a database of psychotherapy RCTs using a set of techniques to test for and correct for publication bias, estimate power, and calculate pre- and post-experimental odds.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cuijpers, Pim and Johannes Haushofer. 2017. "Publication Bias and Psychotherapy." AEA RCT Registry. November 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2574-1.0
Former Citation
Cuijpers, Pim and Johannes Haushofer. 2017. "Publication Bias and Psychotherapy." AEA RCT Registry. November 10. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2574/history/23150
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This study is a meta-analysis. We will examine a large database of RCTs which study various psychotherapy, mostly variants of cognitive-behavioral therapy, to treat major depressive disorder.
Intervention Start Date
2018-01-01
Intervention End Date
2018-01-02

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Major depressive disorder
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Extant RCTs in our database measure depression in different ways. Most commonly, a psychological inventory such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) or Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CESD) scale is used and participants are diagnosed according to predefined criteria established by national psychiatric bodies. The mean differences between treatment arms in each study have been converted to standard deviations of the outcome variable to allow for comparison and aggregation.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Meta-analysis. See the attached pre-analysis plan for more detail.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer randomization is the standard among RCTs included.
Randomization Unit
RCTs vary in their unit of randomization. Our unit of analysis is the trail.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
331
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
N/A
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
N/A. See pre-analysis plan for more information.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

PAN_PAP_2017-11-08_dm.pdf

MD5: 47fe8389a94ae5ca4ea4e23f1f51c36b

SHA1: 704bc48d611fa6c735dcfcd42e3bb1b48ddc4420

Uploaded At: November 10, 2017

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials