Supplementary Material for: The Efficacy of Antidepressants on Overall Well-Being and Self-Reported Depression Symptom Severity in Youth: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Recent meta-analyses of the efficacy of second-generation antidepressants for youth have concluded that such drugs possess a statistically significant advantage over placebo in terms of clinician-rated depressive symptoms. However, no meta-analysis has included measures of quality of life, global mental health, self-esteem, or autonomy. Further, prior meta-analyses have not included self-reports of depressive symptoms. Methods: Studies were selected through searching Medline, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials databases as well as GlaxoSmithKline's online trial registry. We included self-reports of depressive symptoms and pooled measures of quality of life, global mental health, self-esteem, and autonomous functioning as a proxy for overall well-being. Results: We found a nonsignificant difference between second-generation antidepressants and placebo in terms of self-reported depressive symptoms (k = 6 trials, g = 0.06, p = 0.36). Further, pooled across measures of quality of life, global mental health, self-esteem, and autonomy, antidepressants yielded no significant advantage over placebo (k = 3 trials, g = 0.11, p = 0.13). Discussion: Though limited by a small number of trials, our analyses suggest that antidepressants offer little to no benefit in improving overall well-being among depressed children and adolescents.

研究背景：近期针对青少年第二代抗抑郁药疗效的荟萃分析（meta-analysis）得出结论，这类药物在临床医师评定的抑郁症状方面，较安慰剂具有统计学意义上的显著优势。然而，尚无任何一项荟萃分析纳入生活质量、整体心理健康、自尊或自主性相关的测评指标。此外，既往荟萃分析亦未纳入抑郁症状的自评报告。
研究方法：本研究通过检索Medline、PsycINFO以及Cochrane对照试验中央登记库（Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials）数据库，同时检索葛兰素史克（GlaxoSmithKline）在线试验注册库，筛选纳入相关研究。本研究纳入抑郁症状自评报告，并将生活质量、整体心理健康、自尊以及自主功能的合并测评指标作为总体幸福感的替代评价指标。
研究结果：本研究发现，第二代抗抑郁药与安慰剂在自评抑郁症状方面无显著差异（k = 6项试验，g = 0.06，p = 0.36）。进一步针对生活质量、整体心理健康、自尊及自主性相关指标的合并分析显示，抗抑郁药较安慰剂未展现出显著优势（k = 3项试验，g = 0.11，p = 0.13）。
研究讨论：尽管受限于试验数量较少，但本研究的分析结果表明，抗抑郁药在改善抑郁儿童及青少年的总体幸福感方面，仅具备极微甚至不存在有益效果。