Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
JAMA Psychiatry. 2019 Jul 1;76(7):730-738. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0310.
Exposure to bullying is a prevalent experience with adverse consequences throughout the life span. Individual vulnerabilities and traits, such as preexisting mental health problems, may be associated with increased likelihood of experiencing bullying. Identifying such individual vulnerabilities and traits is essential for a better understanding of the etiology of exposure to bullying and for tailoring effective prevention.
To identify individual vulnerabilities and traits associated with exposure to bullying in childhood and adolescence.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: For this study, data were drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a population-based birth cohort study. The initial ALSPAC sample consisted of 14 062 children born to women residing in Avon, United Kingdom, with an expected date of delivery between April 1, 1991, and December 31, 1992. Collection of the ALSPAC data began in September 6, 1990, and the last follow-up assessment of exposure to bullying was conducted when participants were 13 years of age. Data analysis was conducted from November 1, 2017, to January 1, 2019.
The polygenic score approach was used to derive genetic proxies that indexed vulnerabilities and traits. A total of 35 polygenic scores were computed for a range of mental health vulnerabilities (eg, depression) and traits related to cognition (eg, intelligence), personality (eg, neuroticism), and physical measures (eg, body mass index), as well as negative controls (eg, osteoporosis).
Single and multi-polygenic score regression models were fitted to test the association between indexed traits and exposure to bullying. Children completed the Bullying and Friendship Interview Schedule at the ages of 8, 10, and 13 years. A mean score of exposure to bullying across ages was used as the main outcome.
A total of 5028 genotyped individuals (2481 boys and 2547 girls) with data on exposure to bullying were included. Among the 35 initially included polygenic scores, 11 were independently associated with exposure to bullying; no significant association was detected for the 24 remaining scores. In multivariable analyses, 5 polygenic scores were associated with exposure to bullying; the largest associations were present for genetic risk relating to mental health vulnerabilities, including diagnosis of depression (standardized b = 0.065; 95% CI, 0.035-0.095) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (standardized b = 0.063; 95% CI, 0.035-0.091), followed by risk taking (standardized b = 0.041; 95% CI, 0.013-0.069), body mass index (standardized b = 0.036; 95% CI, 0.008-0.064), and intelligence (standardized b = -0.031; 95% CI, -0.059 to 0.003).
Using the multi-polygenic score approach, the findings implicate preexisting mental health vulnerabilities as risk factors for exposure to bullying. A mechanistic understanding of how these vulnerabilities link to exposure of bullying is important to inform prevention strategies.
遭受欺凌是一种普遍存在的经历，会对整个生命周期产生不良后果。个体的脆弱性和特征，如先前存在的心理健康问题，可能与遭受欺凌的可能性增加有关。识别这些个体的脆弱性和特征对于更好地理解遭受欺凌的病因学以及制定有效的预防措施至关重要。
确定与儿童和青少年时期遭受欺凌有关的个体脆弱性和特征。
设计、设置和参与者：在这项研究中，数据来自于父母和儿童纵向研究（ALSPAC），这是一项基于人群的出生队列研究。最初的 ALSPAC 样本由 14062 名居住在英国埃文的女性所生的儿童组成，预计分娩日期在 1991 年 4 月 1 日至 1992 年 12 月 31 日之间。ALSPAC 数据的收集始于 1990 年 9 月 6 日，最后一次对欺凌的随访评估是在参与者 13 岁时进行的。数据分析于 2017 年 11 月 1 日至 2019 年 1 月 1 日进行。
使用多基因评分方法得出了索引脆弱性和特征的遗传代理。共计算了 35 个多基因评分，用于一系列心理健康脆弱性（例如，抑郁症）和与认知（例如，智力）、个性（例如，神经质）和身体测量（例如，体重指数）相关的特征，以及阴性对照（例如，骨质疏松症）。
单基因和多基因评分回归模型被拟合来检验索引特征与欺凌暴露之间的关联。儿童在 8、10 和 13 岁时完成了欺凌和友谊访谈调查。使用年龄间暴露于欺凌的平均分数作为主要结果。
共有 5028 名进行了基因分型的个体（2481 名男孩和 2547 名女孩），并提供了关于暴露于欺凌的数据。在最初纳入的 35 个多基因评分中，有 11 个与欺凌暴露独立相关；其余 24 个评分未检测到显著相关性。在多变量分析中，有 5 个多基因评分与欺凌暴露有关；与心理健康脆弱性相关的遗传风险最大，包括抑郁症的诊断（标准化 b=0.065；95%置信区间，0.035-0.095）和注意力缺陷/多动障碍（标准化 b=0.063；95%置信区间，0.035-0.091），其次是冒险行为（标准化 b=0.041；95%置信区间，0.013-0.069）、体重指数（标准化 b=0.036；95%置信区间，0.008-0.064）和智力（标准化 b=-0.031；95%置信区间，-0.059 至 0.003）。
使用多基因评分方法，研究结果表明先前存在的心理健康脆弱性是欺凌暴露的风险因素。了解这些脆弱性如何与欺凌暴露相关联的机制理解对于制定预防策略很重要。
