MetaPsyR: Access the Meta-Analytic Psychotherapy Database

General Information

The MetaPsyR package allows accessing the meta-analytic depression psychotherapy database (Metapsy) direct in your R environment. Once installed, simply run data(DepPsychDB) to save the data locally. To open the dataset documentation, run ?DepPsychDB. The documentation of the package is also hosted by rdrr.io.

The interactive Metapsy web application (metapsy.org) uses MetaPsyR in the background. You can open the application in R by running open_app().

The raw data file can be accessed in the associated GitHub repository under data/DepPsychDB.rda.

Data Structure

Detailed material concerning the Metapsy database and how it was generated can be found in an OSF Repository. In MetaPsyR, the database is provided as an R data.frame including the following columns:

• study: First author and publication year of the trial

• g: Effect size of the psychotherapeutic intervention, encoded as the small sample bias-corrected standardized mean difference (Hedges` g)

• SE: The standard error of the effect size

• year: The publication year of the trial

• n_intervention: Sample size in the treatment arm

• n_control: Sample size in the control group arm

• n: Total sample size

• age_category: Age population; either Adults or Elderly

• target_group: Target population of the intervention; Adults, General Medical, Perinatal Depression, Student population, Children & Adolescents, Older Adults

• comorbid_disorder: Patients with comorbidities; yes or no

• mean_age: Mean age of the sample

• percent_women: Percentage of females in the sample

• recruitment: Type of sample recruitment; Clinical, Community, Other.

• diagnosis: Type of depression diagnosis; Major Depression, Cut-off Score Diagnosis, Subclinical Depression, Mood Disorder, Chronic Depression

• type: Type of psychotherapeutic treatment; Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Problem-Solving Therapy, Third-Wave Cognitive Therapies, Behavioral Activation Therapy, Nondirective Supportive Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Life Review Therapy, Other

• format: Treatment format; Group, Individual, Guided Self-Help, Couple, Other, Telephone

• n_sessions: Number of sessions (treatment arm)

• control_type: Type of control group; Care as Usual, Other, Waiting List

• country: Region of origin

• quality_criteria: Number of quality criteria fulfilled (0-4). The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool (V1) was used for assessment. See here for further information concerning the ratings.