From the early scars to the vicissitudes of old age: A bibliometric analysis revealing childhood adversity and aging

Background

Adversity suffered in childhood may profoundly affect aging over the subsequent life cycle. The field of childhood adversity and aging has amassed a certain number of publications, but there are no bibliometric studies in this field.

Methods

Publications in 10 years on childhood adversity and aging were searched in the Web of Science Core Collection. Bibliometric tools were used to analyze and visualize these publications by country, institution, journal, author, keyword, research area, and co-citation.

Results

Four hundred thirty-five publications were retrieved from 2014 to September 21, 2023, with a 4.9% annual growth rate. The United States (251), University of California, San Francisco (59), Elissa S. Epel (11), and Psychoneuroendocrinology (29) were the countries, institutions, authors, and journals contributing the highest number of publications in this field, respectively. "Early-life stress" (87), "depression" (82), "childhood trauma" (69), and "aging" (60) were the keywords that appeared more frequently.

Conclusions

This is the first bibliometric study on childhood adversity and aging. The United States dominates the field regarding publication numbers, research institutions, and researchers. Publications in this field are interdisciplinary, covering several critical subject areas and having far-reaching impacts, with gerontology, neurosciences, psychology, and psychiatry at the core.