We are thrilled to announce that Professor Terrie Moffitt co-founder of the E-Risk Study has been recognised in the first King’s Birthday Honours (2023) with an MBE for services to social science! You can read more about this exciting achievement here.
We are absolutely delighted that the UK Research & Innovation Medical Research Council (UKRI MRC) has awarded £2.3m to the E-Risk Study to enable us to collect new follow-up data from our wonderful twins when they reach 30 years of age. We can’t wait to see them all and find out how they are getting on in adulthood!!! Read more about this funding award here.
ADHD and social isolation
ESRC LISS-DTP PhD student Katie Thompson’s paper showing increases in ADHD symptoms directly and consistently lead to more social isolation throughout childhood, using data from the E-Risk Study, received a lot of national media coverage:
Air pollution and mental health
Dr Aaron Reuben’s paper on showing that E-Risk twins exposed to higher levels of outdoor air pollution (particularly nitrogen oxides) during adolescence were more likely to experience a wide range of mental health problems at the transition to adulthood, received coverage in both the national and international press:
Socioeconomic impact of loneliness
Bridget Bryan, a Colt Foundation PhD student, published a paper showing that E-Risk twins who felt lonely at age 12 were more likely to be unemployed and not in education at age 18, and considered themselves less employable and lower on the economic ladder than their less lonely peers. This was press released by King’s College London and was featured on international news websites:
E-Risk Study showcased on Beyond the Stigma podcast
Listen to Prof Helen Fisher, E-Risk Principal Investigator, and Becky Gray, E-Risk Projector Coordinator, discuss the E-Risk Study, why it’s important to study twins, the impact the findings from our amazing twins have already had in the wider world, and what we have planned for the future: https://behindthestigma.buzzsprout.com/1402324/13138113-the-e-risk-study-with-professor-helen-fisher-rebecca-gray
E-Risk Co-I chats to Will Young about epigenetics
Dr Chloe Wong, E-Risk Co-Investigator, discuss epigenetics and generational trauma on the Wellbeing Lab podcast with popstar turned podcaster Will Young. This includes her fascinating findings that being victimised during adolescence may alter the way our genes work using data collected from E-Risk twins. Listen now on Spotify , Apple, or Amazon.
E-Risk findings on violence and mental health discussed on social work podcast
Prof Helen Fisher, E-Risk Principal Investigator, discusses findings from an E-Risk paper on the impact of experiencing violence during adolescence on mental health at the transition to adulthood in this Social Work Research podcast: https://martinwebber.net/archives/podcast/45-violence-during-adolescence-and-mental-health
Bringing the voice of lived experience to mental health and violence research
In this blog, three young people with their own experience of violence and/or mental health issues who worked with Dr Rachel Latham (E-Risk postdoc) describe what it was like to be involved in analysing and writing up E-Risk data on this topic: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/bringing-the-voice-of-lived-experience-to-mental-health-and-violence-research
Animation on mental health outcomes of bullying
Prof Louise Arseneault, PI of E-Risk Phase 18, and Ali Hussain created this animation in collaboration with the Policy Institute at King’s and Young Research Advisers from the National Children’s Bureau. It is based on a policy briefing calling for more targeted support for bullied children to prevent future mental health problems. This stems from E-Risk findings among pairs of identical twins, in which bullied twins experienced higher symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to their co-twins who had not experienced bullying. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJpWUBSNhI4
E-Risk findings featured in video about cities and psychosis
Prof Helen Fisher, E-Risk Principal Investigator, talks in this Evening Standard video about findings from the E-Risk Study which show that adolescents who grew up in cities are more likely to hear voices and be paranoid than those who grew up in more rural areas: https://www.standard.co.uk/escapist/health/mental-health-in-the-metropolis-what-it-s-like-to-have-a-psychotic-experience-a3574076.html
E-Risk findings on childhood psychotic experiences showcased in BA video
Prof Helen Fisher, E-Risk Principal Investigator, talks about findings from the E-Risk Study on risk and protective factors for hearing voices and paranoia among children in this video for the British Academy Summer Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FB2qhvC88E
BOLD blog on how parents’ speech might impact children’s development
Emily Wood, a Research Assistant in the Hungry Mind Lab at the University of York, discusses in this BOLD blog how children who hear less complex language at home may be at a disadvantage when starting school. This is based on a project funded by the Nuffield Foundation which uses the short samples of mothers’ speech that were obtained when the E-Risk twins were 5 years’ old and is exploring how these are related to the twins’ cognition, language, reading, and general academic performance throughout school. You can read more here: https://bold.expert/how-might-parents-speech-impact-childrens-development/
The Anatomy of Loneliness
In 2018, 55,000 people completed the BBC Loneliness Experiment. Claudia Hammond reveals the results and discovers the loneliest times of life and the top solutions in tackling loneliness. This BBC Radio documentary features interviews with researchers from the E-Risk Study. You can listen to the 3-part documentary here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000mj8
The E-Risk lab: what samples we collect and why
In this video, E-Risk Scientific Lead Dr Chloe Wong, explains which biological samples we collect in our lab and how this will greatly advance our understanding of how genes play a role across human behaviours and diseases: https://x.com/ERiskstudy/status/1821162578149622075
E-Risk findings featured in podcast on early language environment and children’s outcomes
In this podcast, researchers from the Hungry Mind Lab at the University of York discuss how children’s early life language experiences can influence their speech development and educational achievement. This includes their findings from the E-Risk Study about how mothers’ vocabulary is associated with their twins’ cognition, literacy, and educational achievement throughout school. You can listen to it here: https://www.acamh.org/podcasts/early-life-language-experiences-speech-development-and-educational-achievement/
The Environmental (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin study blog: Video interviewing the twins at 30
In this blog, the E-Risk team reflects on the evolving nature of the study and its data collection methods since it began in 1998, when the twins were just 5 years old. Now, as the twins reach age 30, the team shares insights into the study’s future plans and the innovative approaches being used today. You can read it here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/the-environmental-e-risk-longitudinal-twin-study-video-interviewing-the-twins-at-30
