Citation
Schaefer, Jonathan D.; Moffitt, Terrie E.; Arseneault, Louise; Danese, Andrea; Fisher, Helen L.; Houts, Renate M.; Sheridan, Margaret A.; Wertz, Jasmin; & Caspi, Avshalom (2018). Adolescent Victimization and Early-Adult Psychopathology: Approaching Causal Inference Using a Longitudinal Twin Study to Rule Out Noncausal Explanations. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(3), 352-371. PMCID: PMC5952301Abstract
Adolescence is the peak age for both victimization and mental disorder onset. Previous research has reported associations between victimization exposure and many psychiatric conditions. However, causality remains controversial. Within the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, we tested whether seven types of adolescent victimization increased risk of multiple psychiatric conditions and approached causal inference by systematically ruling out noncausal explanations. Longitudinal within-individual analyses showed that victimization was followed by increased mental health problems over a childhood baseline of emotional/behavioral problems. Discordant-twin analyses showed that victimization increased risk of mental health problems independent of family background and genetic risk. Both childhood and adolescent victimization made unique contributions to risk. Victimization predicted heightened generalized liability (the "p factor") to multiple psychiatric spectra, including internalizing, externalizing, and thought disorders. Results recommend violence reduction and identification and treatment of adolescent victims to reduce psychiatric burden.URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2167702617741381Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2018Journal Title
Clinical Psychological ScienceAuthor(s)
Schaefer, Jonathan D.Moffitt, Terrie E.
Arseneault, Louise
Danese, Andrea
Fisher, Helen L.
Houts, Renate M.
Sheridan, Margaret A.
Wertz, Jasmin
Caspi, Avshalom