Childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) is associated with the development of adult psychological outcomes, with DNA methylation (DNAm) as a mechanism to potentially explain these changes. We present the first systematic review synthesising the literature investigating childhood SEP and DNAm. Thirty-two publications were included. Seventeen studies focused on candidate genes, typically focusing on genes implicated with the stress response and/or development of psychiatric conditions. These studies typically investigated different regions of the genes, which revealed inconsistent results. Six studies calculated epigenetic age, with a small number revealing an elevated significant association with childhood SEP. Epigenome-wide studies revealed altered patterns of DNAm which varied between the nine studies. This research area is emerging and demonstrated great variance in findings with no clear patterns identified across studies. Multiple methodological shortcomings are identified, including at the phenotypic level where construct validity of childhood SEP is highly inconsistent, with studies using a wide range of measures. Larger cohorts will be required with international collaborations to strengthen this research area.

儿童的社会经济地位（SEP）与成人心理结果的发展相关，而DNA甲基化（DNAm）作为潜在解释这些变化的机制。我们提出了第一个系统综述，综述了研究儿童SEP和DNAm的文献。包括三十二份出版物。十七项研究关注候选基因，通常关注与应激反应和/或精神疾病发展有关的基因。这些研究通常研究基因的不同区域，这揭示了不一致的结果。六项研究计算了表观遗传年龄，少数研究揭示了与儿童SEP的显着相关性。整个表观基因组研究揭示了DNAm模式的改变，这在九项研究之间有所不同。该研究领域正在兴起，并显示出研究结果的巨大差异，且各研究之间没有明确的模式。已发现多种方法学缺陷，包括在表型水平上，儿童SEP的结构效度高度不一致，研究使用了多种方法。与国际合作将需要更大的队列，以加强这一研究领域。