Research trends and hot spots of children’s and adolescent mental health education: a bibliometric analysis from 2000 to 2022

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to systematically review the research hotspots and frontiers in the field of international child and adolescent mental health education over the past 22 years. Furthermore, based on the changes in these hotspots, it aims to predict future research directions, providing valuable references for scholars engaged in subsequent research in this field. Methods: Using analytical tools such as CiteSpace, R-Tool, and VOSviewer, a quantitative analysis was conducted on 10,231 research papers in the field of children’s mental health education from the WoSCC database published between 2000 and 2022. Results: The results indicate that mental health problems among children and adolescents have become a global public health issue, with a continuous increase in related research publications over the years. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems among children and adolescents during periods of lockdown. The United States is a core research country in this field, and influential journals in this area include "Pediatrics" and "Social Science & Medicine." Ford, Tamsin is an authoritative author in this field. Popular research topics in this field include family education, children with disabilities, and substance abuse. Future research is likely to focus on the impact of physical activity on mental health.