Thirty years of research on negative symptoms of schizophrenia: A scientometric analysis of hotspots, bursts, and research trends

• Published in: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews Vol. 144; p. 104979
• Main Authors: Sabe, Michel, Chen, Chaomei, Perez, Natacha, Solmi, Marco, Mucci, Armida, Galderisi, Silvana, Strauss, Gregory P., Kaiser, Stefan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Alogia; Anhedonia; Asociality; Avolition; Bibliometric; Blunted affect; Concept Formation; Humans; Network; Psychiatry; Psychosis; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; Systematic Reviews as Topic; Psychosis; Blunted affect; Asociality; Network; Anhedonia; Alogia; Bibliometric; Avolition
• ISSN: 0149-7634; 1873-7528
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104979

Research on negative symptoms of schizophrenia has received renewed interest since the 1980s. A scientometric analysis that objectively maps scientific knowledge, with changes in recent trends, is currently lacking. We searched the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) on December 17, 2021 using relevant keywords. R-bibliometrix and CiteSpace were used to perform the analysis. We retrieved 27,568 references published between 1966 and 2022. An exponential rise in scientific interest was observed, with an average annual growth rate in publications of 16.56% from 1990 to 2010. The co-cited reference network that was retrieved presented 24 different clusters with a well-structured network (Q=0.7921; S=0.9016). Two distinct major research trends were identified: research on the conceptualization and treatment of negative symptoms. The latest trends in research on negative symptoms include evidence synthesis, nonpharmacological treatments, and computational psychiatry. Scientometric analyses provide a useful summary of changes in negative symptom research across time by identifying intellectual turning point papers and emerging trends. These results will be informative for systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and generating novel hypotheses. •First broad scientometric analysis over 30 years of research on negative symptoms.•Major trends were research on the conceptualization and treatment of negative symptoms.•Latest trends include evidence synthesis, nonpharmacological treatments, and computational psychiatry.•The most prominent papers, journals and authors were identified.•Such results can inform policy-makers and funding agencies.