Relationship between depression and anxiety symptoms in studies conducted in Turkey: a meta-analysis study

Relationship between depression and anxiety symptoms in studies conducted in Turkey: a meta-analysis study Objective: This meta-analysis study aimed to test the relationship between depression and anxiety symptoms by analyzing the studies on depression and anxiety symptoms in Turkey. The study was carried out in two stages to determine the effect of depression sypmtoms on the anxiety sypmtoms, and the moderators that could affect the mean effect size obtained in this study. Method: In order to determine the studies that will be included in the meta-analysis, a search was made in the National Higher Education Council’s National Thesis Center, ULAKBIM Social and Humanities Database, ULAKBIM Medical Data Base and Google Academic Database. In this phase, all studies including depression and anxiety were recorded by using the terms related with anxiety and depression. The screening process was reduced to title, keyword and summary fields to create study pool (143 studies). Subsequently, with the detailed examination of studies, 74 studies were excluded and 69 studies were included in the sample in accordance with the study criteria. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient (r) was calculated as the effect size in the analysis and the random effect model was used. Results: In the study, the mean effect size depression on anxiety was calculated as 0.53, with a lower limit value of 0.48 and an upper limit value of 0.58. In addition, there was a difference between the size of effect observed in the study and the size of the virtual effect generated according to the random effects model aimed to correct the effect caused by the publication bias. Conclusion: Confidence intervals of 69 studies included in meta-analysis study were narrow, meaning that the decisions which will be made taking into consideration the data obtained from these studies are reliable. It has been found that depression has a positive effect on a wide range of anxiety. According to these findings, as depression levels increase, anxiety levels also increase, or as depression levels decrease, anxiety levels decrease. Overall, moderator variables of anxiety type, anxiety scale, and depression scale affect the relationship between depression and anxiety of individuals. Anxiety and depression levels can vary according to these moderator variables.