Análisis comparativo de las publicaciones sobre drogodependencias en las revistas de psicología clínica y psiquiatría iberoamericanas indexadas en el Journal Citation Reports

Introduction Drug consumption has become a social problem requiring political, social, and educational intervention in its prevention and treatment. In Latin America, the drug problem is highly related to the violence and the social exclusion of the metropolis. Forty percent of the 15-yearolds already smoke. On average, each person in the general population consumes approximately 6 kg of alcohol per year: the highest value in the less developed world. Meanwhile, in Spain, over a million people experience significant difficulties related to drug consumption (not including the effects of tobacco) in relation to health, family, labor, and social issues. In 2006, one out of 10 young people between the ages 14 and 18 consumed alcohol in an abusive manner more than four or five days per month. Drug consumption is a very complex, multi-factor issue with multiple economic, social, cultural, and personal implications. The most visible negative effects are observed in health issues and personal relationships. In the public scope, the most negative effects are related to important direct and indirect economic expenses, including the treatment and prevention of drug dependency, the reduction in labor productivity, the increase in charity, the fight against the delinquency, and the trafficking of drugs. The present study examines whether or not there is a correspondence between the social, public health, and political importance of drug dependency and the basic and applied research in Spanish and Latin American scientific literature. There are two objectives for this investigation: first, to quantify the scientific investigation of drug dependency in the last four years in Latin American clinical psychology and psychiatry journals, included in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The second objective is to state the differences between the journals in relation to the applied methodology, the type of sample used, and the principal topic of discourse.