ReviewDepression and anxiety2013
Using Mendelian randomisation to infer causality in depression and anxiety research.
Review in Depression and anxiety, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Association of Cigarette Smoking With Depression and Anxiety: A Systematic Review.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Investigating Causality Between Blood Metabolites and Emotional and Behavioral Responses to Traumatic Stress: a Mendelian Randomization Study.Molecular neurobiology · 2020Trial
- Nicotine metabolite ratio and clinically significant depressive symptoms in U.S. adults: A smoker-specific association.Medicine · 2026Observational
- Exploring a Potential Interaction Between the Effect of Specific Maternal Smoking Patterns and Comorbid Antenatal Depression in Causing Postpartum Depression.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2024Article
- Investigating the causal association of postpartum depression with cerebrovascular diseases and cognitive impairment: a Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Beef intake and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: Insights from a cross-sectional study and two-sample Mendelian randomization.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- The Role of Anxiety in Smoking Onset, Severity, and Cessation-Related Outcomes: a Review of Recent Literature.Current psychiatry reports · 2020Review
- Embracing polygenicity: a review of methods and tools for psychiatric genetics research.Psychological medicine · 2018Review
- Molecular genetic approaches to understanding the comorbidity of psychiatric disorders.Development and psychopathology · 2016Review
- Mediating effect of anxiety and depression on the relationship between Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and smoking/drinking.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Exploring causal associations of alcohol with cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in a Chinese population using Mendelian randomization analysis.Scientific reports · 2015Article
- Article
- Associations of cannabis and cigarette use with psychotic experiences at age 18: findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.Psychological medicine · 2014Article
- Practitioner review: A critical perspective on gene-environment interaction models--what impact should they have on clinical perceptions and practice?Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2014Review
- Phenotype refinement strengthens the association of AHR and CYP1A1 genotype with caffeine consumption.PloS one · 2014Article
- Unlocking the Black Box: A Multilevel Analysis of Preadolescent Children's Coping.Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Depression and anxiety co-occur with substance use and abuse at a high rate. Ascertaining whether substance use plays a causal role in depression and anxiety is difficult or impossible with conventional observational epidemiology. Mendelian randomisation uses genetic variants as a proxy for environmental exposures, such as substance use, which can address problems of reverse causation and residual confounding, providing stronger evidence about causality. Genetic variants can be used instead of directly measuring exposure levels, in order to gain an unbiased estimate of the effect of various exposures on depression and anxiety. The suitability of the genetic variant as a proxy can be ascertained by confirming that there is no relationship between variant and outcome in those who do not use the substance. At present, there are suitable instruments for tobacco use, so we use that as a case study. Proof-of-principle Mendelian randomisation studies using these variants have found evidence for a causal effect of smoking on body mass index. Two studies have investigated tobacco and depression using this method, but neither found strong evidence that smoking causes depression or anxiety; evidence is more consistent with a self-medication hypothesis. Mendelian randomisation represents a technique that can aid understanding of exposures that may or may not be causally related to depression and anxiety. As more suitable instruments emerge (including the use of allelic risk scores rather than individual single nucleotide polymorphisms), the effect of other substances can be investigated. Linkage disequilibrium, pleiotropy, and population stratification, which can distort Mendelian randomisation studies, are also discussed.
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What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.