[Current topics of social-psychiatric research in German speaking countries: a content analysis of scientific journals].
OBJECTIVE
The paper is aimed at investigating what the actual topics of social-psychiatric research in German speaking countries are.


METHODS
German and international journals covering psychiatry and adjacent disciplines were screened for articles dealing with social-psychiatric topics. All in all, 426 relevant articles were identified and subjected to a content analysis.


RESULTS
Almost one third of all articles was dealing with research on mental health services. Another research area that was strongly represented was epidemiology. By contrast, articles devoted to the study of psycho-social causes of mental disorders and psycho-social determinants of its course were rather rare.


CONCLUSIONS
Possible reasons for the observed trends in social-psychiatric research are discussed. Potential risks for social psychiatry resulting from a too one-sided emphasis on health service research are pointed out.
Holzinger
Anita
A
Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Universität Leipzig. krausem@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
Angermeyer
Matthias C
MC
D001317:Austria; D003158:Community Psychiatry / Q000639:trends*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D005858:Germany; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000639:trends*; D011643:Publishing / Q000639:trends*; D013557:Switzerland