SynthesisHealth psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association2018
Behavioral impact of return of genetic test results for complex disease: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 3 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
45 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic Review: The Psychosocial Impacts of Autism-Related Genetic Testing.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Strategies to facilitate the report-back of research results: a systematic review of methods and evaluations.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Pooled it
- Barriers and Facilitators for Population Genetic Screening in Healthy Populations: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in genetics · 2022Pooled it
- The Effects of Personalized Feedback About ALDH2*2, Alcohol Use, and Associated Health Risks on Drinking Intention and Consumption: The Role of Self-Efficacy and Perceived Threat.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Trial
- Schoolhouse risk: Can we mitigate the polygenic Pygmalion effect?Acta psychologica · 2024Trial
- Feasibility of precision smoking treatment in a low-income community setting: results of a pilot randomized controlled trial in The Southern Community Cohort Study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Trial
- Predictors of correct recall of genetic risk information among Hispanic individuals in Florida and Puerto Rico.Patient education and counseling · 2023Trial
- Predictors of genetic risk recall among the participants of a randomized controlled precision prevention trial against melanoma.Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics · 2023Trial
- Assessment of skin cancer precision prevention materials among Hispanics in Florida and Puerto Rico.Patient education and counseling · 2022Trial
- Assessment of melanoma precision prevention materials incorporating MC1R genetic risk information.Translational behavioral medicine · 2022Trial
- A randomized clinical trial of precision prevention materials incorporatingCancer research communications · 2022Trial
- Impact of personal genomic risk information on melanoma prevention behaviors and psychological outcomes: a randomized controlled trial.Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics · 2021Trial
- Proof of Concept of a Personalized Genetic Risk Tool to Promote Smoking Cessation: High Acceptability and Reduced Cigarette Smoking.Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2021Trial
- Evaluation of Polygenic Scores and CT Imaging in Risk Factor Modification in Patients With Diabetes: Rationale and Design of the VOLTAIRE Study.Clinical cardiology · 2026Article
- Polygenic risk score for type 2 diabetes shows context-dependent effects across populations.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Patient-initiated lifestyle changes following receipt of genetic test results in a predominantly marginalized population.Journal of genetic counseling · 2025Article
- Review
- The impact of supplementing traditional risk information with polygenic risk score concerning type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease on health behavior: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of community genetics · 2025Article
- Case-control association study between polygenic risk score and COVID-19 severity in a Russian population using low-pass genome sequencing.Epidemiology and infection · 2024Article
- The Risk Information and Skin-cancer Education for Undergraduate Prevention (RISE-UP) Study: Protocol for a Trial of Personalized Sun Protection Interventions for Skin Cancer Prevention among Undergraduate Students.Contemporary clinical trials · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveAdvances in genomewide association studies have made possible the return of genetic risk results for complex diseases. Two concerns about these results are (a) negative psychological consequences and (b) viewing probabilistic results as deterministic, leading to misinterpretation and inappropriate decisions. The present study evaluates these concerns through a meta-analytic review of existing literature.
methodSeventeen genetic testing studies of complex disease, including 1,171 participants and reporting 195 effects, 104 of which were unadjusted for covariates, were meta-analyzed under a random effects model. Diseases included Alzheimer's, cardiovascular and coronary heart disease, lung cancer, melanoma, thrombophilia, and type II diabetes. Six domains of behavioral-psychological reactions were examined.
resultsCarriers showed significantly increased self-reported behavior change compared to noncarriers when assessed 6 months or later after results return (Hedges's g = .36, p = .019).
conclusionsReturn of genetic testing results for complex disease does not strongly impact self-reported negative behavior or psychological function of at-risk individuals. Return of results does appear to moderately increase self-reported healthy behavior in carriers, although research on objectively observed behavior change is needed. This is a growing area of research, with preliminary results suggesting potential positive implications of genetic testing for complex disease on behavior change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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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.