Search reports, ask a question, or jump to a page.
The problem
Intervention: Observational assessment of exposure to multiple forms of victimisation (physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, intimate-partner violence exposure, bullying, cyber-victimisation, crime victimisation) and measurement of genome-wide DNA methylation patterns
Who it was tested with: 2,232 children (1,116 twin pairs) born in 1994–1995 in England and Wales, followed to age 18 (93% retention).
Children or communities are compared with a group that did not receive the intervention, or followed over years. This is the design that best separates what the intervention did from everything else that changed.
"Multiple forms of victimisation were ascertained in childhood and adolescence (including physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to intimate-partner violence, bullying, cyber- and crime victimization) by combining the best practices in survey research with comprehensive interview-based approaches. Whole blood samples were collected from participants at age 18, and the extracted DNA was used to quantify genome-wide patterns of DNA methylation." The study used a longitudinal design with genetically sensitive methods (twin comparison) to test whether victimisation exposure correlates with measurable epigenetic changes.
Study measured DNA methylation in peripheral blood at a single time point (age 18); unable to determine whether victimisation effects on DNA methylation may be tissue-specific, time-limited, or operate through different biological mechanisms. The negative findings may reflect methodological limitations of epigenetic epidemiology rather than absence of biological embedding.
Across countries and designs
1 study · 1 country
