title: Panic disorder in women: a population-based twin study.
abstract: Previous studies based on probands from clinical samples suggest that panic disorder aggregates strongly in families and may be due to a highly penetrant single major locus. In this study we examine panic disorder as assessed at blind, structured psychiatric interview in 2163 women from a population-based twin registry. DSM-III-R diagnoses were assigned at a narrow and at a broad level both by clinician review and by computer algorithm. The familial aggregation of panic disorder in this sample was only modest. The relatively small number of affected individuals prevented a definitive resolution of competing genetic and non-genetic models of familial transmission. Although there was some inconsistency across diagnostic approaches, most results suggested that the familial aggregation of panic disorder was due largely to genetic factors. Using a multifactorial-threshold model, the best estimates of the heritability of liability ranged from 30 to 40%. From a familial perspective, panic disorder with phobic avoidance appears to represent a more severe form of the syndrome than panic disorder without avoidance. Our results, which suggest that in the general population panic disorder is only a moderately heritable condition, are at variance with results from several previous investigations based on clinically ascertained samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298-0710.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kendler
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Neale
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Heath
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Eaves
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology