Disciplinary differences in the study of the relationship between social variables and mental health: A systematic mapping review.

There has been sustained interest in the intersection between social constructs and mental health from diverse disciplines including psychiatry, sociology and public health. However, no systematic attempt has been made to catalogue what is meant by 'social' by different researchers, how variables deemed 'social' constructs are linked to mental health, nor whether these patterns differ by academic discipline. Understanding interdisciplinary differences and commonalities may reveal opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance our understanding of how social factors relate to mental health.

What do we mean by "social" in mental health research?

This article presents a methodology designed to study what is considered "social" in research on the topic of mental health. Examining a sample of 289 academic publications, we coded the meanings attributed to "social" and their linkage to mental health. Reflecting on this methodology offers a way to discuss the various uses of the adjective "social," and highlights the significance of its (often lacking) definition in the construction of research objects.

Why mental disorders flourish and wither: Extending the theory of ecological niches.

Why do some mental illnesses emerge in certain times and places and later disappear? Because it integrates a wide array of social processes and relies on a strong epistemological position, Hacking's theory of ecological niches constitutes the most comprehensive and ambitious attempt to answer this question. However, this theory lacks a convincing definition of its research object ("transient mental illnesses"), a conceptualization of how individuals would "fall ill" as well as a solid methodological framework to form case studies. This article addresses these issues in order to propose an extended theory of ecological niches.

To what extent does diagnosis matter? Dementia diagnosis, trouble interpretation and caregiving network dynamics.

Contemporary research into health and mental health treats diagnosis as a central step in understanding illness management and trajectory; consequently, in the last two decades, sociology of diagnosis has attained increasing influence within medical sociology. Deeply embedded in social constructionism, the set of research divides between those who focus on the social and historical construction of diagnoses as categories, and those who see diagnosis as a process. Regarding the latter, this approach explores the constitution of the medical production, highlighting how it constitutes a starting point for entering a 'sick role', for being labelled, for naming one's problem and by extension, for framing one's illness narrative.

Sociability and distinction: An ethnographic study of a French nursing home.

How do residents' previous social positions influence the ways in which they deal with social life in nursing home? Based on observations and interviews in a private nursing home in France, this article describes daily life in the facility, the disability-based distinctions observed among residents, the strategies they use to "find their place," and the references they make about their former social position in collective encounters. It shows that sociability in nursing homes is structured by the intertwining of "levels of disability" among residents, the social composition of the institution and its local surroundings, and the relative value attributed to each type of capital (in the sense of Bourdieu) in this context. The author proposes some assumptions that aim to generalize these specific findings.