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Adolescent Victimization and Early-Adult Psychopathology: Approaching Causal Inference Using a Longitudinal Twin Study to Rule Out Noncausal Explanations.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Schaefer, JD; Moffitt, TE; Arseneault, L; Danese, A; Fisher, HL; Houts, R; Sheridan, MA; Wertz, J; Caspi, A
Published in: Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science
May 2018

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.

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Published In

Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science

DOI

EISSN

2167-7034

ISSN

2167-7026

Publication Date

May 2018

Volume

6

Issue

3

Start / End Page

352 / 371

Related Subject Headings

  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 5203 Clinical and health psychology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

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Schaefer, J. D., Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Danese, A., Fisher, H. L., Houts, R., … Caspi, A. (2018). Adolescent Victimization and Early-Adult Psychopathology: Approaching Causal Inference Using a Longitudinal Twin Study to Rule Out Noncausal Explanations. Clinical Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 6(3), 352–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702617741381
Schaefer, Jonathan D., Terrie E. Moffitt, Louise Arseneault, Andrea Danese, Helen L. Fisher, Renate Houts, Margaret A. Sheridan, Jasmin Wertz, and Avshalom Caspi. “Adolescent Victimization and Early-Adult Psychopathology: Approaching Causal Inference Using a Longitudinal Twin Study to Rule Out Noncausal Explanations.Clinical Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science 6, no. 3 (May 2018): 352–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702617741381.
Schaefer JD, Moffitt TE, Arseneault L, Danese A, Fisher HL, Houts R, et al. Adolescent Victimization and Early-Adult Psychopathology: Approaching Causal Inference Using a Longitudinal Twin Study to Rule Out Noncausal Explanations. Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. 2018 May;6(3):352–71.
Schaefer, Jonathan D., et al. “Adolescent Victimization and Early-Adult Psychopathology: Approaching Causal Inference Using a Longitudinal Twin Study to Rule Out Noncausal Explanations.Clinical Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, vol. 6, no. 3, May 2018, pp. 352–71. Epmc, doi:10.1177/2167702617741381.
Schaefer JD, Moffitt TE, Arseneault L, Danese A, Fisher HL, Houts R, Sheridan MA, Wertz J, Caspi A. Adolescent Victimization and Early-Adult Psychopathology: Approaching Causal Inference Using a Longitudinal Twin Study to Rule Out Noncausal Explanations. Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. 2018 May;6(3):352–371.
Journal cover image

Published In

Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science

DOI

EISSN

2167-7034

ISSN

2167-7026

Publication Date

May 2018

Volume

6

Issue

3

Start / End Page

352 / 371

Related Subject Headings

  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 5203 Clinical and health psychology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 1701 Psychology