We are writing to address a potential statistical limitation in the meta-analyses
reported by Byrd and Manuck (
1
) and by Karg et al. (
2
). Both meta-analyses followed the same statistical method and investigated the role
of gene-environment (G × E) interactions in the development of psychopathology. Byrd
and Manuck (
1
) showed that there is a G × E interaction between the variable number tandem repeat
polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase A promoter and childhood maltreatment in the
development of antisocial behavior, while Karg et al. (
2
) demonstrated a G × E interaction between a serotonin-transporter-linked polymorphic
region variation and stressful life events in the development of depression. The latter
topic had been addressed by Munafò et al. (
3
) and Risch et al. (
4
) independently in 2009, but neither of them found significant results. Karg et al. (
2
) attributed this discrepancy to the different number of trials included in each meta-analysis.
Munafò et al. (
3
) and Risch et al. (
4
) estimated an overall effect size of a limited number of trials, whereas Karg et al. (
2
) combined the p values of a much larger group of studies. The main differences between these two
types of meta-analysis are presented below.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Published online: February 24, 2014
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© 2015 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Reply To: The Liptak-Stouffer Test for Meta-AnalysesBiological PsychiatryVol. 77Issue 1
- PreviewScience is a cumulative enterprise. As more studies accumulate, it is important to integrate them, and meta-analysis is one approach to doing so. But what is the best way to conduct a meta-analysis? The commentary by Laoutidis and Luckhaus suggests limitations of two recent meta-analyses, one reported in this journal by Byrd and Manuck (1) and the second published elsewhere by Karg et al. (2). These focus, respectively, on two reports of gene-environment (G × E) interactions, published in 2002 and 2003 (3,4), that have spawned over 80 replication attempts.
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