Erin C Dunn1, Kristen Nishimi2, Alexander Neumann3, Alice Renaud4, Charlotte A M Cecil5, Ezra S Susser6, Henning Tiemeier7. 1. Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard Medical School and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Electronic address: edunn2@mgh.harvard.edu. 2. Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA. 3. Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 4. Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. 5. Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; King's College London, UK. 6. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY. 7. Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Exposure to interpersonal violence is a known risk factor for psychopathology. However, it is unclear whether there are sensitive periods when exposure is most deleterious. We aimed to determine whether there were time periods when physical or sexual violence exposure was associated with greater child psychopathology. METHOD: This study (N = 4,580) was embedded in Generation R, a population-based prospective birth cohort. Timing of violence exposure, reported through maternal reports (child age, 10 years) was categorized by age at first exposure, defined as: very early (0-3 years), early (4-5 years), middle (6-7 years), and late (8+ years) childhood. Using Poisson regression, we assessed the association between timing of first exposure and levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, using the Child Behavior Checklist at age 10 years. RESULTS: Violence exposure at any age was associated with higher internalizing (physical violence: risk ratio [RR] = 1.46, p < 0.0001; sexual violence: RR = 1.30, p < .0001) and externalizing symptoms (physical violence: RR = 1.52, p < 0.0001; sexual violence: RR = 1.31, p = 0.0005). However, the effects of violence were time dependent: compared to children exposed at older ages, children first exposed during very early childhood had greater externalizing symptoms. Sensitivity analyses suggested that these time-based differences emerged slowly across ages 1.5, 3, 6, and 10 years, showing a latency between onset of violence exposure and emergence of symptoms, and were unlikely to be explained by co-occurring adversities. CONCLUSION: Interpersonal violence is harmful to childhood mental health regardless of when it occurs. However, very early childhood may be a particularly sensitive period when exposure results in worse psychopathology outcomes. Results should be replicated in fully prospective designs.
OBJECTIVE: Exposure to interpersonal violence is a known risk factor for psychopathology. However, it is unclear whether there are sensitive periods when exposure is most deleterious. We aimed to determine whether there were time periods when physical or sexual violence exposure was associated with greater child psychopathology. METHOD: This study (N = 4,580) was embedded in Generation R, a population-based prospective birth cohort. Timing of violence exposure, reported through maternal reports (childage, 10 years) was categorized by age at first exposure, defined as: very early (0-3 years), early (4-5 years), middle (6-7 years), and late (8+ years) childhood. Using Poisson regression, we assessed the association between timing of first exposure and levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, using the Child Behavior Checklist at age 10 years. RESULTS: Violence exposure at any age was associated with higher internalizing (physical violence: risk ratio [RR] = 1.46, p < 0.0001; sexual violence: RR = 1.30, p < .0001) and externalizing symptoms (physical violence: RR = 1.52, p < 0.0001; sexual violence: RR = 1.31, p = 0.0005). However, the effects of violence were time dependent: compared to children exposed at older ages, children first exposed during very early childhood had greater externalizing symptoms. Sensitivity analyses suggested that these time-based differences emerged slowly across ages 1.5, 3, 6, and 10 years, showing a latency between onset of violence exposure and emergence of symptoms, and were unlikely to be explained by co-occurring adversities. CONCLUSION: Interpersonal violence is harmful to childhood mental health regardless of when it occurs. However, very early childhood may be a particularly sensitive period when exposure results in worse psychopathology outcomes. Results should be replicated in fully prospective designs.
Authors: Margaret A Sheridan; Nathan A Fox; Charles H Zeanah; Katie A McLaughlin; Charles A Nelson Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2012-07-23 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Vincent W V Jaddoe; Cornelia M van Duijn; Oscar H Franco; Albert J van der Heijden; Marinus H van Iizendoorn; Johan C de Jongste; Aad van der Lugt; Johan P Mackenbach; Henriëtte A Moll; Hein Raat; Fernando Rivadeneira; Eric A P Steegers; Henning Tiemeier; Andre G Uitterlinden; Frank C Verhulst; Albert Hofman Journal: Eur J Epidemiol Date: 2012-10-20 Impact factor: 8.082
Authors: Ryan L Muetzel; Rosa H Mulder; Sander Lamballais; Andrea P Cortes Hidalgo; Pauline Jansen; Berna Güroğlu; Meike W Vernooiji; Manon Hillegers; Tonya White; Hanan El Marroun; Henning Tiemeier Journal: Front Psychiatry Date: 2019-09-24 Impact factor: 4.157
Authors: Andrea P Cortes Hidalgo; Ryan Muetzel; Maartje P C M Luijk; Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg; Hanan El Marroun; Meike W Vernooij; Marinus H van IJzendoorn; Tonya White; Henning Tiemeier Journal: Dev Cogn Neurosci Date: 2019-10-25 Impact factor: 6.464
Authors: Rosa H Mulder; Esther Walton; Alexander Neumann; Lotte C Houtepen; Janine F Felix; Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg; Matthew Suderman; Henning Tiemeier; Marinus H van IJzendoorn; Caroline L Relton; Charlotte A M Cecil Journal: Epigenetics Date: 2020-01-28 Impact factor: 4.528
Authors: Varun Warrier; Alex S F Kwong; Mannan Luo; Shareefa Dalvie; Jazz Croft; Hannah M Sallis; Jessie Baldwin; Marcus R Munafò; Caroline M Nievergelt; Andrew J Grant; Stephen Burgess; Tyler M Moore; Ran Barzilay; Andrew McIntosh; Marinus H van IJzendoorn; Charlotte A M Cecil Journal: Lancet Psychiatry Date: 2021-03-16 Impact factor: 77.056
Authors: Rebecca V Mountain; Yiwen Zhu; Olivia R Pickett; Alexandre A Lussier; Jill M Goldstein; Joshua L Roffman; Felicitas B Bidlack; Erin C Dunn Journal: JAMA Netw Open Date: 2021-11-01
Authors: Jolien Rijlaarsdam; Edward D Barker; Chiara Caserini; M Elisabeth Koopman-Verhoeff; Rosa H Mulder; Janine F Felix; Charlotte A M Cecil Journal: J Psychiatr Res Date: 2021-05-28 Impact factor: 4.791