Social isolation from childhood to young adulthood:Identifying patterns of stability & change for a better understanding of later health & functioning

积极的社会关系，特别是在年轻时，对以后的健康和幸福至关重要。当社会关系和人际关系严重缺乏或缺失时，就会出现社会孤立。这种隔离已经在老年人群中进行了探索，并与心理和身体健康的影响有关。很少有人关注儿童时期长期的社会孤立的影响，在这个生命阶段，情感和行为的发展是为以后的岁月所塑造的。研究表明，社会孤立有很大的遗传倾向，因此需要在控制遗传影响的同时对儿童时期的社会孤立进行纵向评估。这种方法有助于澄清社会孤立对心理健康、身体健康相关行为、受教育程度和就业以及犯罪等四个关键领域的晚年结果的影响。对2232对5岁、7岁、10岁、12岁和18岁的双胞胎进行环境风险纵向研究，将提供有关整个童年时期不同时间点的社会隔离的宝贵信息，并评估这些与18岁时健康结果的关系。拟议项目的结果将有助于为早期干预和应对策略提供信息，以帮助减少幼儿的社会孤立，从而减少以后生活中出现精神和身体健康问题的可能性。

Positive social relationships, particularly at a young age,are critical for later health and wellbeing. Social isolationoccurs when there is a severe lack or absence of socialrelationships and interpersonal connections. This isolationhas been explored in older populations and has beenassociated with implications for both mental and physicalhealth. There has been little focus on the impact ofprolonged social isolation in childhood, at a stage of lifewhere emotional and behavioral development is shaped forlater years. Research has shown that there is a substantialgenetic predisposition for social isolation, thus longitudinalassessment of social isolation in childhood whilstcontrolling for genetic influence is needed. This approachcan help clarify the impact that social isolation has on laterlife outcomes in four key domains of mental health,physical health-related behaviours, educational attainmentand employment, and criminal offending. The use of theEnvironmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study of 2232 twinpairs assessed at ages 5, 7, 10, 12 and 18 years willprovide valuable information on social isolation at varioustime points throughout childhood and assess how theserelate to health outcomes at age 18. Results from theproposed project will help inform interventions and copingstrategies at an early age to help reduce social isolation inyoung children and subsequently reduce the likelihood ofmental and physical health problems in later life.