A longitudinal twin study of victimization and loneliness from childhood to young adulthood

Timothy Matthews; Avshalom Caspi; Andrea Danese; Helen Fisher; Terrie Moffitt; Louise Arseneault

doi:10.1017/S0954579420001005

A longitudinal twin study of victimization and loneliness from childhood to young adulthood

Timothy Matthews, Avshalom Caspi, Andrea Danese, Helen Fisher, Terrie Moffitt, Louise Arseneault

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Abstract

The present study used a longitudinal and discordant twin design to explore in depth the developmental associations between victimization and loneliness from mid-childhood to young adulthood. The data were drawn from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a birth cohort of 2,232 individuals born in England and Wales during 1994-1995. Diverse forms of victimization were considered, differing across context, perpetrator, and timing of exposure. The results indicated that exposure to different forms of victimization was associated with loneliness in a dose-response manner. In childhood, bullying victimization was uniquely associated with loneliness, over and above concurrent psychopathology, social isolation, and genetic risk. Moreover, childhood bullying victimization continued to predict loneliness in young adulthood, even in the absence of ongoing victimization. Within-twin pair analyses further indicated that this longitudinal association was explained by genetic confounds. In adolescence, varied forms of victimization were correlated with young adult loneliness, with maltreatment, neglect, and cybervictimization remaining robust to controls for genetic confounds. These findings indicate that vulnerability to loneliness in victimized young people varies according to the specific form of victimization in question, and also to the developmental period in which it was experienced.

Original language	English
Journal	Development and Psychopathology
Early online date	13 Oct 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579420001005
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 13 Oct 2020

Keywords

Bullying
Cybervictimization
Loneliness
Twin study
Victimization

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1017/S0954579420001005Licence: CC BY

Matthews_LonelinessVictimisation_10Jun20Accepted author manuscript, 119 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "A longitudinal twin study of victimization and loneliness from childhood to young adulthood",

abstract = "The present study used a longitudinal and discordant twin design to explore in depth the developmental associations between victimization and loneliness from mid-childhood to young adulthood. The data were drawn from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a birth cohort of 2,232 individuals born in England and Wales during 1994-1995. Diverse forms of victimization were considered, differing across context, perpetrator, and timing of exposure. The results indicated that exposure to different forms of victimization was associated with loneliness in a dose-response manner. In childhood, bullying victimization was uniquely associated with loneliness, over and above concurrent psychopathology, social isolation, and genetic risk. Moreover, childhood bullying victimization continued to predict loneliness in young adulthood, even in the absence of ongoing victimization. Within-twin pair analyses further indicated that this longitudinal association was explained by genetic confounds. In adolescence, varied forms of victimization were correlated with young adult loneliness, with maltreatment, neglect, and cybervictimization remaining robust to controls for genetic confounds. These findings indicate that vulnerability to loneliness in victimized young people varies according to the specific form of victimization in question, and also to the developmental period in which it was experienced.",

keywords = "Bullying, Cybervictimization, Loneliness, Twin study, Victimization",

author = "Timothy Matthews and Avshalom Caspi and Andrea Danese and Helen Fisher and Terrie Moffitt and Louise Arseneault",

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doi = "10.1017/S0954579420001005",

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AU - Matthews, Timothy

AU - Caspi, Avshalom

AU - Danese, Andrea

AU - Fisher, Helen

AU - Moffitt, Terrie

AU - Arseneault, Louise

PY - 2020/10/13

Y1 - 2020/10/13

N2 - The present study used a longitudinal and discordant twin design to explore in depth the developmental associations between victimization and loneliness from mid-childhood to young adulthood. The data were drawn from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a birth cohort of 2,232 individuals born in England and Wales during 1994-1995. Diverse forms of victimization were considered, differing across context, perpetrator, and timing of exposure. The results indicated that exposure to different forms of victimization was associated with loneliness in a dose-response manner. In childhood, bullying victimization was uniquely associated with loneliness, over and above concurrent psychopathology, social isolation, and genetic risk. Moreover, childhood bullying victimization continued to predict loneliness in young adulthood, even in the absence of ongoing victimization. Within-twin pair analyses further indicated that this longitudinal association was explained by genetic confounds. In adolescence, varied forms of victimization were correlated with young adult loneliness, with maltreatment, neglect, and cybervictimization remaining robust to controls for genetic confounds. These findings indicate that vulnerability to loneliness in victimized young people varies according to the specific form of victimization in question, and also to the developmental period in which it was experienced.

AB - The present study used a longitudinal and discordant twin design to explore in depth the developmental associations between victimization and loneliness from mid-childhood to young adulthood. The data were drawn from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a birth cohort of 2,232 individuals born in England and Wales during 1994-1995. Diverse forms of victimization were considered, differing across context, perpetrator, and timing of exposure. The results indicated that exposure to different forms of victimization was associated with loneliness in a dose-response manner. In childhood, bullying victimization was uniquely associated with loneliness, over and above concurrent psychopathology, social isolation, and genetic risk. Moreover, childhood bullying victimization continued to predict loneliness in young adulthood, even in the absence of ongoing victimization. Within-twin pair analyses further indicated that this longitudinal association was explained by genetic confounds. In adolescence, varied forms of victimization were correlated with young adult loneliness, with maltreatment, neglect, and cybervictimization remaining robust to controls for genetic confounds. These findings indicate that vulnerability to loneliness in victimized young people varies according to the specific form of victimization in question, and also to the developmental period in which it was experienced.

KW - Bullying

KW - Cybervictimization

KW - Loneliness

KW - Twin study

KW - Victimization

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DO - 10.1017/S0954579420001005

M3 - Article

SN - 0954-5794

JO - Development and Psychopathology

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ER -

A longitudinal twin study of victimization and loneliness from childhood to young adulthood

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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