Open AccessAnalysis of search queries as a tool for comparative assessment of the need for psychotherapeutic help
Author(s) -
Anton Mironovich Chernenko,
Vsevolod Aleksandrovich Agarkov,
Svetlana Aronovna Bronfman
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
psihologiâ i psihotehnika
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2454-0722
DOI - 10.7256/2454-0722.2022.1.34873
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , population , computer science , service (business) , psychology , statistics , information retrieval , demography , mathematics , sociology , economy , economics , macroeconomics
The subject of this study is the dependence of the frequency of search queries related to a certain medical and/or psychological problem on time and geographical location. In this study, two types of search queries were studied: "status" queries and "help" queries. To obtain data on the frequency characteristics of requests, the capabilities of the Googl Trends web application were used. Requests for "help" were investigated based on the results of an anonymous questionnaire of those who applied for psychological help to the Moscow Psychological Assistance Service for the Population. Seasonal variations of the query "depression" qualitatively repeat seasonal fluctuations, which are one of the main characteristics of this disease: spring-autumn peaks of circulation with summer-winter recessions. Attention is also drawn to the high severity of the autumn peak in the number of requests. At the same time, the graph of the frequency of requests for the word "alarm" does not have such a pronounced cyclicity and does not show an upward trend in the second half of the year. The analysis of the "help" requests found: (1) seasonal cyclicity, similar to the "depression" query — with spring and autumn peaks, and (2) a downward trend by the end of the year, unlike the "depression" query.     The analysis of search queries presented in this article is an important research tool, since the statistical characteristics obtained in such a study are independent of traditional statistics based on the analysis of patients' appeals to medical or psychological institutions. Thus, we found that seasonal variations of the query "depression" qualitatively repeat seasonal fluctuations in the frequency of occurrence of the disease: spring-autumn peaks alternate with summer-winter declines, which may indicate the reliability of evaluating search queries as a tool for analyzing depressive and anxiety–depressive states. Variations of "help" requests also have a similar cyclicity.