Dear stata users,

I am not an expert concerning statistics, so I hope to find some answers in this forum.

I have a survey sample and ran a logistic regression with svy: logistic command. I have an independent variable (depression: yes/no) in the logistic regression, where I'm not sure how to interpret the finding.

The descriptive statistics suggest a positive relation between depression and the outcome variable. This remains true when I run a logistic regression with only depression as independent variable and the outcome variable (OR>1, p<.001).

However, the OR of depression changes direction as soon as I include two items about anxiety (5-point scale) (OR<1, p<.005). I am not sure how to explain this from a statistical point of view or if it is necessary to investigate this change further. I am familiar with independent variables becoming non significant when including other variables in the model, but I have never had a change of direction in the effect.

I checked for multicollinearity before running the regression, there were no VIF>5, however the anxiety items had the highest VIF=4. Could this explain the change in direction? Do I need to exclude the variable from the regression?

I would be happy about any ideas/tips on the matter.

Best