Positive thinking about negative studies

Eva Petkova; Adam Ciarleglio; Patricia Casey; Norman Poole; Kenneth Kaufman; Stephen M Lawrie; Gin Malhi; Najma Siddiqi; Kamaldeep Bhui; William Lee

doi:10.1192/bjp.2023.155

Positive thinking about negative studies

Br J Psychiatry. 2024 Mar;224(3):79-81. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2023.155.

Authors

Eva Petkova¹, Adam Ciarleglio², Patricia Casey³, Norman Poole⁴, Kenneth Kaufman⁵, Stephen M Lawrie⁶, Gin Malhi⁷, Najma Siddiqi⁸, Kamaldeep Bhui⁹, William Lee¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, USA.
² George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Washington, DC, USA.
³ Hermitage Medical Clinic, Dublin, Ireland; and Department of Psychiatry, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁴ Department of Neuropsychiatry, South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA; and Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
⁷ Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; CADE Clinic and Mood-T, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁸ Department of Health Sciences, Hull York Medical School, University of York, York, UK.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Wadham College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; East London and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trusts, London, UK; and WPA Collaborating Centre Oxford, Oxford, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Liaison Psychiatry, Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust, Bodmin, UK.

PMID: 38174364
DOI: 10.1192/bjp.2023.155

Abstract

The non-reporting of negative studies results in a scientific record that is incomplete, one-sided and misleading. The consequences of this range from inappropriate initiation of further studies that might put participants at unnecessary risk to treatment guidelines that may be in error, thus compromising day-to-day clinical practice.

Keywords: Adjustment disorders; aetiology; alcohol disorders; anorexia nervosa; anthropology.

MeSH terms

Anorexia Nervosa* / therapy
Humans
Optimism