Mapping Psychological Research in Southern Peru: Bibliometric Evidence from Undergraduate Theses (2020–2025)

Abstract

Scientific output is a key indicator of the development of academic disciplines. In psychology, bibliometric studies allow for the identification of thematic trends, predominant areas of research, and dynamics of knowledge generation. Objective of this study was to analyze the scientific output in psychology developed in the city of Tacna (Peru) between 2020 and 2025 through a bibliometric analysis of undergraduate theses. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study with a bibliometric approach was conducted. The corpus consisted of 131 undergraduate theses in psychology retrieved from university repositories. The psychological variables present in the titles and research objectives were analyzed, considering their frequency, co-occurrence, and thematic grouping. Results: The results show that psychological research is mainly concentrated in the field of educational psychology (43.5%), followed by clinical psychology (23.7%) and social or community psychology (16%). The most frequently researched variables were academic stress, anxiety, parenting styles, depression, and family functioning. Co-occurrence analysis identified three predominant thematic clusters: mental health in educational contexts, family dynamics and adolescent development, and psychosocial well-being. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate a strong research focus on mental health issues in student populations. Although there has been sustained growth in scientific output, it remains concentrated in certain thematic areas. It is recommended to promote greater diversification of research lines and strengthen the publication of thesis-derived studies in indexed scientific journals.