Flourishing in Early Adulthood Among Victimized Children: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

Childhood victimization has lifelong adverse consequences including lower well-being and functional impairments in adulthood. Nonetheless, some victimized individuals appear to fare well, although it remains unclear whether they flourish (i.e., experience overall well-being and optimal functioning).

We used data from the nationally representative Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, which followed 2,232 children born in 1994-1995 across England and Wales to 18 years of age (93% retention, N = 2,066). Victimization was prospectively assessed between ages 5-12 years, capturing exposure to severe physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect, physical neglect, peer bullying, and domestic violence. Flourishing was assessed at age 18 across four domains: social well-being, education and cognition, physical health, and mental well-being.

Over a third of the 558 victimized children flourished on at least one measure within all four domains at age 18, with the highest flourishing rates found for perceptions of social support, social status, and sleep quality. Experiencing two or more types of victimization was associated with lower flourishing for perceived social status (adjusted odds ratio [adj.OR] = 0.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.28, 0.73, p = .001) and faster biological aging (adj.OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.35, 0.93, p = .024) compared to single victimization exposure. Victimized girls were more likely to flourish in their educational attainment than boys (adj.OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.02, 2.55, p = .042).

A substantial proportion of victimized children flourished across multiple domains in early adulthood. Identifying enabling factors could inform promotive interventions.