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，特别是在年轻的时候，对以后的健康和幸福至关重要。当严重缺乏社会关系和人际关系时，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有关。人们很少关注儿童时期长期的社会隔离的影响，因为儿童时期的情感和行为发展为以后的岁月奠定了基础。研究表明，社交隔离有很大的遗传倾向，因此需要对儿童时期的社交隔离进行纵向评估，同时控制基因的影响。这一方法可以帮助澄清社会隔离对心理健康、与身体健康相关的行为、教育程度和就业以及犯罪四个关键领域的后世生活结果的影响。对2232对5岁、7岁、10岁、12岁和18岁的双胞胎进行的环境风险纵向双胞胎研究将提供有关儿童不同时期社交隔离的宝贵信息，并评估这些信息与18岁时的健康结果之间的关系。该项目的结果将有助于在幼儿时期采取干预措施和应对策略，以帮助减少幼儿的社交孤立，并随后降低日后出现心理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.