A systematic overview of umbrella reviews on risk and protective factors for psychological disorders

Abstract

[eng] Nowadays health research faces a moment of massive publication. Every day it grows, resulting not only in tons of new papers, but also systematic reviews (SR), meta-analysis (MA) and, research syntheses. Umbrella reviews (UR) are systematic reviews of multiple SR and MA on a certain topic and have appeared as a solution to the excess of emerging published information, helping decision-makers to be updated on the latest evidence for their professional practice. The overarching aim of the current study was to provide a big picture of the topics covered by UR and to summarize knowledge of those focused on risk and protective factors for diagnosed mental disorders. In this systematic overview first, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched finding 575 UR. Second, mental health articles were screened and classified by field giving us a broader view of the current state of research in the specialty. And third, the highest quality evidence available on risk and protective factors for different mental disorders was analyzed through 10 UR published on the topic. Extracting around half a thousand risk/protective factors and their association measures and classifying them by topic in order to assess and grade the evidence acquired. As a result, 564 non purely genetic risk/protective factors for diagnosed psychological disorders were synthetized. Concretely, 553 potential risk factors and 11 potential protective factors. Even though, many were associated with up to 6 different disorders which support the transdiagnostic hypothesis, only 25 factors meet criteria to be considered class I evidence, making the existence of the association very clear. As a result of the incorporation of UR as research tools, various astonishingly clear associations have been found on risk/protective factors, providing valuable information to the scientific community and leading the path to enhance the knowledge and practice in mental health.