Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41221807›Full record

ArticleEpidemiology and psychiatric sciences2025

How to distinguish promotion, prevention, and treatment trials in public mental health: development and validation of the VErona-LUgano Tool (VELUT).

Marianna Purgato, Emiliano Albanese, Alden L Gross, Anna Maria Annoni, Ceren Acarturk, Camilla Cadorin, Mark J D Jordans, Crick Lund, Davide Papola, Eleonora Prina and 5 more

Abstract readValidation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 2025. 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

15 authors.

Marianna PurgatoWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3783-8195
Emiliano AlbaneseInstitute of Public Health, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland.
Alden L GrossDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Center on Aging and Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Anna Maria AnnoniInstitute of Public Health, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland.
Ceren AcarturkDepartment of Psychology, Koc University, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Camilla CadorinWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Mark J D JordansResearch and Development Department, War Child, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Crick LundCentre for Global Mental Health, Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK.
Davide PapolaWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Eleonora PrinaWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Marit SijbrandijDepartment of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Amsterdam Public Health Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Manuela SilvaLisbon Institute of Global Mental Health, Comprehensive Health Research Center, NOVA University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Federico TedeschiWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Wietse A TolSection for Global Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Corrado BarbuiWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPromoting mental health, preventing mental disorders and providing effective treatments are public health priorities. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) frequently evaluate mental health and psychosocial support interventions to achieve one or more of these objectives. Distinguishing between RCTs focused on mental health promotion, prevention or treatment remains conceptually and methodologically challenging. No standardized tool exists to position RCTs along a promotion-to-treatment continuum in mental health. We aimed to develop and validate the VErona-LUgano Tool (VELUT) for distinguishing RCTs along the promotion-to-treatment continuum.

methodsAn interdisciplinary tool development group (TDG) was established. The Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome framework was used to define key constructs. Items in the tool were devised, categorized and reduced through qualitative and quantitative methods. Finally, we performed a preliminary validation of the VELUT applying item response theory (IRT) using data from 180 RCTs.

resultsThe TDG generated 33 items for the initial version of the VELUT, reduced to 16 through review, cognitive interviews and psychometric analysis. Analyses of 180 RCTs using the 16-item tool showed high internal consistency (α = 0.94) and unidimensionality. Following item reduction and IRT, a final 8-item version was retained, and IRT models confirmed strong item discrimination for the 8 items and high scale reliability (marginal reliability >0.90 across most of the range of the scale), good response distribution, item performance and alignment with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) promotion-to-treatment continuum.

conclusionsThe VELUT addresses methodological gaps in global mental health research by helping to position RCTs of MHPSS interventions along the IOM promotion-to-treatment continuum.

Indexed as

Health PromotionMental DisordersMental HealthPublic HealthRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicHumansMalePsychometricsReproducibility of Resultsevidence synthesisitem response theorymental healthpreventionpromotion

Identifiers

PMID41221807
PMCPMC12646188

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.