Abstract: Objective To explore the current development of research on subjective well-being (SWB) of older adults both domestically and internationally from 2003 to 2022, and identify the hot topics and trends, and to provide reference for the development of mental health-related research in older adults. Methods Literature related to SWB of the older adults was retrieved from the core collection database of Web of Science (WOS), CNKI and Wanfang Data, and the knowledge map of the publishing country, author, institution and keywords was drawn by CiteSpace for visual analysis. Results A total of 634 English articles and 979 Chinese articles were included. The international publication count has shown a consistent growth, while the domestic publication count has steadily increased from 7 articles in 2003 to 85 articles in 2014, maintaining a stable level thereafter. China and developed countries including the United States, Germany and Britain play a leading role in the research, and inadequate cooperation between domestic research institutions and authors was found. Research both at home and abroad focused on social psychology, aging and age difference, health status, intervention research, positive psychology, successful aging, pension modes, happiness economics, the status quo of SWB and its influencing factors. The frontier of international research was loneliness, while that in China was personalized psychological care, old-age care institutions and disabled elderly people. Conclusion International research on this topic has reached saturation, with a wide range of comprehensive and refined studies. However, domestic research is still in the exploratory stage. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen joint research, focusing on the individual characteristics of elderly individuals, and provide them with spaces for exercise and leisure, as well as personalized psychological care strategies.

Key words: subjective well-being, older adult, CiteSpace, bibliometrics