Mapping the structure of research in international papers on psychotherapy (2012–2021)

Relevance. An increasing amount of publications demands investigators to step beyond routine analysis strategies in their scientific research. For this purpose, Leiden University Center for Science and Technology Studies (Netherlands) has developed the VOSviewer analytical software tool, available for free download.

The goal is to analyze the structure of scientific research in international publications on psychotherapy, published within 10 year’s timespan, from 2012 to 2021.

Methods. The PubMed database search produced a sampling of 89.8 thousand items referring to international papers on psychotherapy published within the span of 10 years, from 2012 to 2021. We analyzed 88.6 % of the yielded sampling. Within the co-occurrence network of 250 keywords and 40 scientific publications, either by individual authors or co-authored, the VOSviewer software tool allowed to visualize 6 clusters based on terms and 14 clusters based on most prominent coauthorship links between researchers.

Results and discussion. The visualized network of 6 clusters showed that researchers were mainly focused on the following issues: Cluster 1 – the role of psychotherapy (specific methods and techniques) in psychological adaptation of patients, including those with mental disorders, as well as approaches and techniques to initiate psychotherapeutic intervention, and patient communication strategies for psychotherapists (having the total link strength of 26.7 % for all sampled publications); Cluster 2 – parameters for biological and neuropsychological markers of psychological impact on patient, with the total link strength of 21.4 %. Cluster 3 – efficiency of psychological impact techniques in evidence-based medicine perspective, with the total link strength of 17.1 %; Cluster 4 – cognitive therapy for addictions, including in remote on-line format, acquisition of healthy lifestyles by patients, as well as technical and economic aspects of treatment, with the total link strength of 14.9 %; Cluster 5 – treatment of patients with mental disorders using cognitive behavioral and combination therapy, including neuropharmacological drugs, with the total link strength of 10.6 %; Cluster 6 – treatment of children with developmental and behavioral disorders, child-parent relationship, pregnancy complications, parenting problems, with the total link strength of 4.4 %. The structure of the evaluated psychotherapeutic techniques and the most prominent co-authorship links between psychotherapy researchers were calculated.

Conclusion. Considering the vast amount of publications, the VOSviewer program allows to outline most dominant research perspectives for a particular area of science and, thus, determine future priorities in psychotherapy as a field of study.

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