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[R-meta] Estimating "overall effect" in meta-regression

For such a pre-post-control-group design design, one could compute two standardized mean differences (one for time 1 and one for time 2), or two standardized mean changes (one for the treatment and one for the control group), or one could compute the difference between two such estimates.

Based on the schema below, it looks like you are computing two standardized mean differences (one for time 1 and one for time 2). Note that the two standardized mean differences are not independent, since they are computed based on the same subjects. This aside, then one definitely should include time as a moderator, as it would make little sense to synthesize estimates from before and after the treatment into a single pooled effect.

Best,
Wolfgang