Mates of schizophrenic mothers. A study of assortative mating from the American-Danish high risk project.
Both mates of schizophrenic mothers and a control group consisting of mates of non-schizophrenic mothers were diagnostically examined. The former were more frequently psychiatrically deviant than their controls, both with respect to a life-time syndrome diagnosis and a personality diagnosis. Mating between a schizophrenic mother and a father who suffered from schizophrenia spectrum disorder significantly increased the offspring's risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder himself. Assortative mating was negatively correlated with age of onset of maternal schizophrenia. It is proposed that defective emotional rapport or sub-psychotic features constitute the phenotypic traits by which assortative mating operates in schizophrenia.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D012306:Risk; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012923:Social Class