Published September 14, 2026 | Version v1
Acyclic Directed Mixed Graph Open

Causal relationship between depressive symptoms and metabolic profile

Contributors

  • 1 Utrecht University

Visualisation

Description

The directed acyclic graph (DAG) represents the hypothesized relationships between depression and metabolic profile, including potential confounding variables. Depression was considered the main exposure and metabolic profile the outcome of interest. The covariates included were age, sex, education, smoking and study center and they were selected based on their potential influence on both the exposure and the outcome.

According to the DAG, the minimal sufficient adjustment set for statistical models contained age, sex, education, smoking and study center for estimating the total effect of depression on metabolic profile.

Variables

7 nodes
  • Depression Exposure No description
  • Metabolic Profile Outcome No description
  • Study center No description
  • Age No description
  • Education No description
  • Sex No description
  • Smoking No description

Relationships

17 edges

List Matrix
  • Study center Metabolic Profile
  • Study center Depression
  • Study center Education
  • Study center Smoking
  • Age Metabolic Profile
  • Age Depression
  • Age Smoking
  • Depression Metabolic Profile
  • Depression Smoking
  • Education Metabolic Profile
  • Education Depression
  • Education Smoking
  • Sex Metabolic Profile
  • Sex Depression
  • Sex Education
  • Sex Smoking
  • Smoking Metabolic Profile

Read across: each marked cell is an edge from the row's variable to the column's.

  • No sign given
  • Directed
  • Bidirected
DepressionMetabolic ProfileStudy centerAgeEducationSexSmoking
Depression
Metabolic Profile
Study center
Age
Education
Sex
Smoking

Code

Submitted as opencausal_nkozm8gx.txt. Also available as:

JSON CSV DAGitty

This JSON follows CausalJSON 0.2, the Open Causal Graph Format.

{
  "$schema": "https://opencausal.org/causaljson/0.2/causaljson.schema.json",
  "graph": {
    "id": "nkozm8gx",
    "version": 1,
    "title": "Causal relationship between depressive symptoms and metabolic profile",
    "description": "The directed acyclic graph (DAG) represents the hypothesized relationships between depression and metabolic profile, including potential confounding variables. Depression was considered the main exposure and metabolic profile the outcome of interest. The covariates included were age, sex, education, smoking and study center and they were selected based on their potential influence on both the exposure and the outcome.\r\n\r\nAccording to the DAG, the minimal sufficient adjustment set for statistical models contained age, sex, education, smoking and study center for estimating the total effect of depression on metabolic profile.",
    "type": "admg",
    "created": "2026-09-14T18:17:59+00:00",
    "authors": [
      {
        "given_name": "Melpomeni",
        "family_name": "Bazaka",
        "orcid": "0009-0005-4396-877X",
        "affiliations": [
          {
            "name": "Utrecht University"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "submitter": {
      "given_name": "Melpomeni",
      "family_name": "Bazaka",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-4396-877X"
    },
    "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
    "rights_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode",
    "publisher": "Open Causal",
    "language": "en",
    "layout": {
      "coordinate_system": "screen"
    }
  },
  "nodes": [
    {
      "id": "Metabolic_Profile",
      "label": "Metabolic Profile",
      "role": "outcome",
      "position": {
        "x": 0.14,
        "y": 0.643
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "Study_center",
      "label": "Study center",
      "position": {
        "x": 0.323,
        "y": 0.091
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "Age",
      "label": "Age",
      "position": {
        "x": 0.604,
        "y": 0.575
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "Depression",
      "label": "Depression",
      "role": "exposure",
      "position": {
        "x": 0.145,
        "y": 0.386
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "Education",
      "label": "Education",
      "position": {
        "x": 0.526,
        "y": 0.725
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "Sex",
      "label": "Sex",
      "position": {
        "x": 0.52,
        "y": 0.175
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "Smoking",
      "label": "Smoking",
      "position": {
        "x": 0.605,
        "y": 0.359
      }
    }
  ],
  "edges": [
    {
      "source": "Study_center",
      "target": "Metabolic_Profile",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Study_center",
      "target": "Depression",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Study_center",
      "target": "Education",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Study_center",
      "target": "Smoking",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Age",
      "target": "Metabolic_Profile",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Age",
      "target": "Depression",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Age",
      "target": "Smoking",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Depression",
      "target": "Metabolic_Profile",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Depression",
      "target": "Smoking",
      "type": "bidirected"
    },
    {
      "source": "Education",
      "target": "Metabolic_Profile",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Education",
      "target": "Depression",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Education",
      "target": "Smoking",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Sex",
      "target": "Metabolic_Profile",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Sex",
      "target": "Depression",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Sex",
      "target": "Education",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Sex",
      "target": "Smoking",
      "type": "directed"
    },
    {
      "source": "Smoking",
      "target": "Metabolic_Profile",
      "type": "directed"
    }
  ]
}
source,target,edge_type
Study_center,Metabolic_Profile,directed
Study_center,Depression,directed
Study_center,Education,directed
Study_center,Smoking,directed
Age,Metabolic_Profile,directed
Age,Depression,directed
Age,Smoking,directed
Depression,Metabolic_Profile,directed
Depression,Smoking,bidirected
Education,Metabolic_Profile,directed
Education,Depression,directed
Education,Smoking,directed
Sex,Metabolic_Profile,directed
Sex,Depression,directed
Sex,Education,directed
Sex,Smoking,directed
Smoking,Metabolic_Profile,directed

dag {
Metabolic_Profile [outcome,label="Metabolic Profile",pos="0.14,0.643"]
Study_center [label="Study center",pos="0.323,0.091"]
Age [pos="0.604,0.575"]
Depression [exposure,pos="0.145,0.386"]
Education [pos="0.526,0.725"]
Sex [pos="0.52,0.175"]
Smoking [pos="0.605,0.359"]
Study_center -> Metabolic_Profile
Study_center -> Depression
Study_center -> Education
Study_center -> Smoking
Age -> Metabolic_Profile
Age -> Depression
Age -> Smoking
Depression -> Metabolic_Profile
Depression <-> Smoking
Education -> Metabolic_Profile
Education -> Depression
Education -> Smoking
Sex -> Metabolic_Profile
Sex -> Depression
Sex -> Education
Sex -> Smoking
Smoking -> Metabolic_Profile
}

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