Methodological and Statistical Practices of Using Symptom Networks to Evaluate Mental Health Interventions: A Review and Reflections

2024/05/11 by Lea Schumacher, Julian Burger, Jette Echterhoff +1 · 25 citations
Medicine · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Applied psychology #Clinical psychology #Computer science #Data mining #Data science #Functional Brain Connectivity Studies #Intervention (counseling) #Machine learning #Medicine #Mental Health Research Topics #Mental health #Missing data #Network analysis #Psychiatry #Psychological intervention #Psychology #Psychopathology #Randomized controlled trial #Schizophrenia research and treatment

paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/00273171.2024.2335401

published in Multivariate Behavioral Research 59(4), 663-676 (Taylor & Francis)

openalex publication_date 2024/05/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

The network approach to psychopathology, which assesses associations between individual symptoms, has recently been applied to evaluate treatments for mental disorders. While various options for conducting network analyses in intervention research exist, an overview and an evaluation of the various approaches are currently missing. Therefore, we conducted a review on network analyses in intervention research. Studies were included if they constructed a symptom network, analyzed data that were collected before, during or after treatment of a mental disorder, and yielded information about the treatment effect. The 56 included studies were reviewed regarding their methodological and analytic strategies. About half of the studies based on data from randomized trials conducted a network intervention analysis, while the other half compared networks between treatment groups. The majority of studies estimated cross-sectional networks, even when repeated measures were available. All but five studies investigated networks on the group level. This review highlights that current methodological practices limit the information that can be gained through network analyses in intervention research. We discuss the strength and limitations of certain methodological and analytic strategies and propose that further work is needed to use the full potential of the network approach in intervention research.

Citations

• The Gaussian Graphical Model in Cross-Sectional and Time-Series Data
• PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation
• Psychopathological networks: Theory, methods and practice
• Integrating clinician and patient case conceptualization with momentary assessment data to construct idiographic networks: Moving toward personalized treatment for eating disorders

Cited by

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• Posttraumatic stress disorder symptom change in youth after trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy: Insights from cross-sectional and cross-lagged panel network analysis. [europepmc]
• Computational network models for forecasting and control of mental health trajectories in digital applications. [europepmc]
• Mental Health Professionals' Attitudes Towards the Network Theory of Mental Disorders. [europepmc]
• Uncertainty Meets Disordered Eating and Body Image: A Transdiagnostic Network Study Across Depressive, Anxiety and Anorexia Nervosa Symptoms Including a Control Group. [europepmc]
• Examining varying number of intervention-modules and change in individual networks in young people remitted from depression or anxiety: Exploratory outcomes of the StayFine randomized clinical trial. [europepmc]

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