Most popular areas of research in clinical psychology

[Clinpsyc01]

I'm just speaking from my own experience, of course, but it seems like at my school every psych major is interested in eating disorders, depression or schizophrenia. Are there certain areas of clinical psychology that are more popular/generally viewed as more interesting than others? Would someone studying depression typically get more applications/volunteer requests than someone studying cognitive aging or something? 

 

[juilletmercredi]

Yes, there are certain areas that are more popular, although that's not necessarily because they're more interesting. I'm willing to bet that cognitive aging is one of the least popular areas (this was an area I was starting to become interested in just before I left academia, particularly in people living with HIV, and there was huge interest in the area from the NIH but few people pursuing research in the field). Mood disorders (depression and anxiety) and eating disorders are fairly popular but there are lots of different ways to take research in those areas.

The other thing is that certain departments may attract a cluster of interested students because of faculty interest. My psych department, for example, had a large number of students interested in social applications of cognitive neuroscience - but we had a strength in that area.

[dancedementia]

Not necessarily more interesting, but being able to recruit appropriate sample sizes is a big deal. For example, I landed a research position at McLean Hospital and wanted to do research based on socioeconomic stressors and BPD. They point blank told me that it would be impossible; McLean's patients are 90% white, upper-middle class. I imagine if you're at a university in the middle of a town with 70% older adult population, then infant PTSD is probably not going to be popular at your institution for the sheer fact that you can't recruit participants for clinical trials. I know that BU, for example, does a lot of stuff around multiculturalism, trauma, and addictions because they're partnered with several hospitals in some of the most diverse and less well off areas of town. Whereas you look at look at Harvard and they're partnered with McLean and doing studies on things like personality disorders and anxiety. 

[Jay's Brain]

It does depend on location, I suspect. For example, I'm from the Toronto area in Canada, and this is a hotbed for neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience research. Memory, aging, and any combinations of that with other keywords in gerontology/geriatrics is extremely popular. If you are interested in that form of research, and working with amnesic/AD patients, this is a great place to visit