Measuring adolescents' exposure to victimization: The Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study
Open accessAbstract
This paper presents multilevel findings on adolescents' victimization exposure from a large longitudinal cohort of twins. Data were obtained from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, an epidemiological study of 2,232 children (1,116 twin pairs) followed to 18 years of age (with 93% retention). To assess adolescent victimization, we combined best practices in survey research on victimization with optimal approaches to measuring life stress and traumatic experiences, and introduce a reliable system for coding severity of victimization. One in three children experienced at least one type of severe victimization during adolescence (crime victimization, peer/sibling victimization, Internet/mobile phone victimization, sexual victimization, family violence, maltreatment, or neglect), and most types of victimization were more prevalent among children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Exposure to multiple victimization types was common, as was revictimization; over half of those physically maltreated in childhood were also exposed to severe physical violence in adolescence. Biometric twin analyses revealed that environmental factors had the greatest influence on most types of victimization, while severe physical maltreatment from caregivers during adolescence was predominantly influenced by heritable factors. The findings from this study showcase how distinct levels of victimization measurement can be harmonized in large-scale studies of health and development.
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Social isolation and peer victimisation are both heritable (30% to 70%).
“Social isolation and peer victimisation do not occur randomly and are both heritable (30% to 70%), suggesting that genetic factors contribute to individual differences in these social difficulties (Fisher et al., 2015; Johansson et al., 2022; Matthews et al., 2016; Veldkamp et al., 2019).”
From A cross‐lagged twin study of emotional symptoms, social isolation and peer victimisation from early adolescence to emerging adulthood (2023) · cites this paper as Fisher et al., 2015
The Discussion section on genetic and environmental influences on victimization exposure reports significant but modest heritability for peer/sibling victimization. Our copy does not report heritability of social isolation or establish the claimed 30%–70% range for both difficulties. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredExposure to multiple social adversities in childhood, such as maltreatment, bullying, neglect and community violence, is associated with more severe negative consequences than exposure to a single risk factor.
“Meanwhile, a robust body of research on cumulative risk exposure indicates that exposure to multiple social adversities in childhood, such as maltreatment, bullying, neglect and community violence, are associated with more severe negative consequences than exposure to a single risk factor (Deniz et al., 2025;Evans et al., 2013;Fisher et al., 2015;Hardi et al., 2025).”
From Investigating the interplay of loneliness and social isolation across adolescence: Findings from a nationally representative longitudinal study (2026) · cites this paper as Fisher et al., 2015
The Results section on poly-victimization (page unavailable) reports that adolescents exposed to one type of severe victimization were more likely to experience other types, including neglect and maltreatment. The paper does not establish the claimed comparison: that exposure to multiple adversities has more severe negative consequences than exposure to a single risk factor. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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“Detailed descriptions of the victimization assessments have been published previously (Danese et al., 2017; Fisher et al., 2015), and are provided in the Supplementary Materials.”
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“Social isolation and peer victimisation do not occur randomly and are both heritable (30% to 70%), suggesting that genetic factors contribute to individual differences in these social difficulties (Fisher et al., 2015; Johansson et al., 2022; Matthews et al., 2016; Veldkamp et al., 2019).”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Fisher, H. L., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Wertz, J., Gray, R., Newbury, J., Ambler, A., Zavos, H., Danese, A., Mill, J., Odgers, C. L., Pariante, C., Wong, C. C. Y., & Arseneault, L.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Duke University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Arseneault, Louise
- ORCID
- Venue
- Development and Psychopathology
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2015-11
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 4pt2
- Pages
- 1399-1416
- ISSN
- 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-2198
- PMC
- PMC4778729
- OpenAlex
- W2205222316
- Cited by
- 131
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 12.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- MQ: Transforming Mental Health (MQ14F40)
- Jacobs Foundation (G1002190, HD077482)
- Medical Research Council (HD077482, G1002190, G1002366)
- Economic and Social Research Council (MQ14F40, ES/H034897/1, 1364723, RES‐177‐25‐0013)
- National Institute on Aging (P30AG034424)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD077482, R01HD077482)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Keywords
- adolescent victimization, victimization measurement, Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, twin studies, heritability, environmental risk factors, physical abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, sexual victimization, peer victimization, crime victimization, revictimization, socioeconomic deprivation, life events, traumatic events
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Child Abuse, Environment, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Registries, Crime Victims, Bullying
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