This dataset is part of the systematic review and meta-analysis of prototypical PTSD symptom trajectories following potential trauma exposure, and their relative prevalences and moderators, of van de Schoot et al. (2025)'s "The Hunt for the Last Relevant Paper: Blending the best of humans and AI" project, pre-registered as part of the FORAS project - Framework for PTSS trajectORies: Analysis and Synthesis (funded by the Dutch Research Council, grant no. 406.22.GO.048 and preregistered with PROSPERO - International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews in December 2023 under the registration code CRD42023494027).

The meta-analysis builds on a systematic search conducted with the purpose of developing a checklist for transparent reporting of GMM studies (https://osf.io/4hqk6), applying a comprehensive search strategy, as detailed in van de Schoot et al. (2025). This includes original search results from PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Scopus on GMM PTSD symptom trajectory studies up to 2016 and an updated search period to 2023. For the current dataset, the search was further extended up to June 26th, 2025, applying van de Schoot et al. (2025)'s search strategy. For the exact search and screening procedure, see the PRISMA flowchart.

The review and meta-analysis has been preregistered on OSF.

Contents The dataset contains the following files:

FT_Screening_and_Selection.xlsx – includes data for the following variables:

  From which search phase the paper originated (1 = Yes, 0 = No; categorical): Inclusion_via_Synergy; Search_2023; Update_search_2025
  Inclusion status in "The Hunt for the Last Relevant Paper: Blending the best of humans and AI" (1 = Included, 0 = Excluded; categorical): FT_final_label_paper_hunt-for-the-last-relevant-paper (Original search update from 2016-2023, DataverseNL repository:  "Updated PTSS dataset for the FORAS project")
  If applicable, exclusion according to exclusion criteria: Clinical_study (1 = Yes); observational_study  (1 = Yes, 0 = No; categorical); non_daily_measures  (1 = Yes, 0 = No; categorical); no_joint_trajectory_or_PTSDcluster  (1 = Yes, 0 = No; categorical); prospective_study (1 = Yes); conditional_model (1 = Yes); poor_quality (1 = Yes)
  Duplicate samples: cohort_duplicate (0 = not a duplicate; samples with the same number use the same sample for trajectory analyses)
  Final inclusion status of papers in the current dataset: FT_final_label_paper_prevalences (1 = Included, 0 = Excluded; categorical)

PRISMA_Flowchart.pdf – flowchart detailing detailing identification of studies via databases, screening, and final inclusions Dealing_with_Duplicate_or_Overlapping_Samples.docx – document detailing decisions and rationale on the selection of which paper to include when multiple papers used the same samples for trajectory analyses GROLTS_scores.csv – final quality score of each included sample (for details on the calculation, see the corresponding Github repository) Data_extraction_general_data.xlsx – extracted data of general descriptives and background variables / moderators of all included samples for the meta-analysis of PTSS trajectory prevalences Data_extraction_model_results.xlsx – extracted data of model results and methodological details of all included samples for the meta-analysis of PTSS trajectory prevalences Codebook_general_data.docx – description of all columns of the Data_extraction_general_data.xlsx dataset Codebook_model_results.docx – description of all columns of the Data_extraction_model_results.xlsx dataset