[Social-psychiatric research in german-speaking countries].

OBJECTIVE

This study aims at outlining the development of social-psychiatric research in German-speaking countries between 1975 and 2001.

METHOD

All original articles dealing with social-psychiatric issues, with appeared in Psychiatrische Praxis in the years 1975 - 1977, 1981 - 1983, 1987 - 1989, 1993 - 1995 and 1999 - 2001 were analysed.

RESULTS

Mental health care research clearly dominated social-psychiatric research in the period investigated. While in the beginning, most papers were devoted to the conceptualisation and description of psychiatric services, in recent years more studies on outcome evaluation and quality assurance were published. The number of articles on the subjective perspective of patients and relatives has increased constantly. Topics such as treatment satisfaction, subjective illness theory, and subjective quality of life enjoy growing interest. The same holds for stigmatisation of mentally ill people. By contrast, studies investigating psycho-social influences on the development and the course of mental disorders are still very rare.

DISCUSSION

The results are discussed against the backdrop of the development of psychiatry in the period investigated.