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. 2024 Mar 19;14(3):467-483.
doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i3.467.

Psychological interventions for depression in children and adolescents: A bibliometric analysis

Nan Wang  1 , Jia-Qi Kong  1 , Nan Bai  1 , Hui-Yue Zhang  1 , Min Yin  2
Affiliations

Psychological interventions for depression in children and adolescents: A bibliometric analysis

Nan Wang et al. World J Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Depression has gradually become a common psychological disorder among children and adolescents. Depression in children and adolescents affects their physical and mental development. Psychotherapy is considered to be one of the main treatment options for depressed children and adolescents. However, our understanding of the global performance and progress of psychological interventions for depression in children and adolescents (PIDCA) research is limited.

Aim: To identify collaborative research networks in this field and explore the current research status and hotspots through bibliometrics.

Methods: Articles and reviews related to PIDCA from January 2010 to April 2023 were identified from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The Charticulator website, CiteSpace and VOSviewer software were used to visualize the trends in publications and citations, the collaborative research networks (countries, institutions, and authors), and the current research status and hotspots.

Results: Until April 16, 2023, 1482 publications were identified. The number of documents published each year and citations had increased rapidly in this field. The United States had the highest productivity in this field. The most prolific institution was the University of London. Pim Cuijpers was the most prolific author. In the context of research related to PIDCA, both reference co-citation analysis and keywords co-occurrence analysis identified 10 research hotspots, including third-wave cognitive behavior therapy, short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy, family element in psychotherapy, modular treatment, mobile-health, emotion-regulation-based transdiagnostic intervention program, dementia risk in later life, predictors of the efficacy of psychological intervention, and risks of psychological intervention.

Conclusion: This bibliometric study provides a comprehensive overview of PIDCA from 2010 to present. Psychological intervention characterized as psychological-process-focused, short, family-involved, modular, internet-based, emotion-regulation-based, and personalized may benefit more young people.

Keywords: Adolescent; Bibliometrics; Child; Depression; Psychological intervention.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no financial disclosures or conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Annual publication outputs and citation trends regarding psychological interventions for depression in children and adolescents from 2010 to 2023.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Visualization of country analysis. A: Annual number of publications in the top 10 most productive countries; B: International collaboration analysis among different countries.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Visualization of institution and author analysis. A: Network visualization map of institution collaboration analysis; B: Network visualization map of author collaboration analysis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Dual-map overlay of academic journals.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Visualization of reference co-citation analysis. A: Network visualization map of reference co-citation cluster analysis; B: Top 25 references with the strongest citation bursts.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Visualization of keyword co-occurrence analysis. A: Network visualization map of keyword co-occurrence analysis; B: Top 15 keywords with the largest occurrence times; C: Top 22 keywords with the strongest citation bursts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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