Genetic and environmental contributions to the co-occurrence of depressive personality disorder and DSM-IV personality disorders

J Pers Disord. 2012 Jun;26(3):435-51. doi: 10.1521/pedi.2012.26.3.435.

Abstract

One of the main controversies with regard to depressive personality disorder (DPD) concerns the co-occurrence with the established DSM-IV personality disorders (PDs). The main aim of this study was to examine to what extent DPD and the DSM-IV PDs share genetic and environmental risk factors, using multivariate twin modeling. The DSM-IV Structured Interview for Personality was applied to 2,794 young adult twins. Paranoid PD from Cluster A, borderline PD from Cluster B, and all three PDs from Cluster C were independently and significantly associated with DPD in multiple regression analysis. The genetic correlations between DPD and the other PDs were strong (.53-.83), while the environmental correlations were moderate (.36-.40). Close to 50% of the total variance in DPD was disorder specific. However, only 5% was due to disorder-specific genetic factors, indicating that a substantial part of the genetic vulnerability to DPD also increases the vulnerability to other PDs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Twin Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Depression / complications
  • Depression / etiology*
  • Depression / genetics
  • Depressive Disorder / complications
  • Depressive Disorder / etiology*
  • Depressive Disorder / genetics
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • Diseases in Twins / etiology*
  • Diseases in Twins / genetics
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Personality Disorders / complications
  • Personality Disorders / etiology*
  • Personality Disorders / genetics
  • Personality*
  • Registries
  • Risk Factors
  • Social Environment
  • Surveys and Questionnaires