Violent experiences and neighbourhoods during adolescence: understanding and mitigating the association with mental health at the transition to adulthood in a longitudinal cohort study

TY - JOUR

T1 - Violent experiences and neighbourhoods during adolescence: understanding and mitigating the association with mental health at the transition to adulthood in a longitudinal cohort study

AU - Latham, Rachel

AU - Arseneault, Louise

AU - Alexandrescu, Bianca

AU - Baldoza, Saffron

AU - Carter, Alysha

AU - Moffitt, Terrie

AU - Newbury, Joanne

AU - Fisher, Helen

N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful to the study mothers and fathers, the twins, and the twins' teachers and neighbours for their participation. Our thanks to Professor Avshalom Caspi, one of the founders of the E-Risk study, and to the E-Risk team for their dedication, hard work, and insights. We also thank Arif Hoque (Independent Researcher) for his thoughtful insights. Funding Information: The E-Risk Study is funded by the Medical Research Council (UK MRC) [G1002190]. Additional support was provided by the U.S National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) [HD077482]; the Jacobs Foundation; and a plus fund award from the UKRI Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network (VAMHN) [ES/S004424/1]. Rachel M. Latham and Helen L. Fisher are supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Society and Mental Health at King’s College London [ES/S012567/1]. Louise Arseneault is the Mental Health Leadership Fellow for the UK ESRC. Joanne B. Newbury is supported by a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust [218632/Z/19/Z]. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the VAMHN, ESRC, Wellcome Trust, or King’s College London. These funders played no role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; nor in the decision to submit this article for publication. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - Purpose: Violence occurs at multiple ecological levels and can harm mental health. However, studies of adolescents’ experience of violence have often ignored the community context of violence, and vice versa. We examined how personal experience of severe physical violence and living in areas with high levels of neighbourhood disorder during adolescence combine to associate with mental health at the transition to adulthood and which factors mitigate this. Method: Data were from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2232 British twins. Participants’ experience of severe physical violence during adolescence and past-year symptoms of psychiatric disorder were assessed via interviews at age 18. Neighbourhood disorder was reported by residents when participants were aged 13–14. Potential protective factors of maternal warmth, sibling warmth, IQ, and family socio-economic status were assessed during childhood, and perceived social support at age 18. Results: Personal experience of severe physical violence during adolescence was associated with elevated odds of age-18 psychiatric disorder regardless of neighbourhood disorder exposure. Cumulative effects of exposure to both were evident for internalising and thought disorder, but not externalising disorder. For adolescents exposed to severe physical violence only, higher levels of perceived social support (including from family and friends) were associated with lower odds of psychiatric disorder. For those who also lived in areas with high neighbourhood disorder, only family support mitigated their risk. Conclusion: Increasing support or boosting adolescents’ perceptions of their existing support network may be effective in promoting their mental health following violence exposure.

AB - Purpose: Violence occurs at multiple ecological levels and can harm mental health. However, studies of adolescents’ experience of violence have often ignored the community context of violence, and vice versa. We examined how personal experience of severe physical violence and living in areas with high levels of neighbourhood disorder during adolescence combine to associate with mental health at the transition to adulthood and which factors mitigate this. Method: Data were from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2232 British twins. Participants’ experience of severe physical violence during adolescence and past-year symptoms of psychiatric disorder were assessed via interviews at age 18. Neighbourhood disorder was reported by residents when participants were aged 13–14. Potential protective factors of maternal warmth, sibling warmth, IQ, and family socio-economic status were assessed during childhood, and perceived social support at age 18. Results: Personal experience of severe physical violence during adolescence was associated with elevated odds of age-18 psychiatric disorder regardless of neighbourhood disorder exposure. Cumulative effects of exposure to both were evident for internalising and thought disorder, but not externalising disorder. For adolescents exposed to severe physical violence only, higher levels of perceived social support (including from family and friends) were associated with lower odds of psychiatric disorder. For those who also lived in areas with high neighbourhood disorder, only family support mitigated their risk. Conclusion: Increasing support or boosting adolescents’ perceptions of their existing support network may be effective in promoting their mental health following violence exposure.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135790052&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s00127-022-02343-6

DO - 10.1007/s00127-022-02343-6

M3 - Article

SN - 0933-7954

VL - 57

SP - 2379

EP - 2391

JO - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology

JF - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology

IS - 12

ER -