Personality traits in unaffected twins discordant for affective disorder.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether a high genetic liability to develop affective disorder is associated with specific personality traits.


METHODS
A cross-sectional, high-risk, case-control study. Through nation-wide registers, healthy monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins with (high-risk twins) and without (the control group/low-risk twins) a co-twin history of affective disorder were identified. Personality traits were compared for a total of 211 high-risk and low-risk twins.


RESULTS
In univariate analyses, the high-risk twins had a higher level of neuroticism than the control twins (P = 0.03). In multivariate analyses, a high genetic liability to affective disorder was not significantly associated with neuroticism but correlated to sex, minor psychopathology and recent life events.


CONCLUSIONS
A high genetic liability to affective disorder showed an association with neuroticism, but the association interacts with other predictors of affective disorder such as female gender, minor psychopathology and recent adversity.
Vinberg
M
M
Department of Psychiatry, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. maj.vinberg@rh.dk
Mortensen
E L
EL
Kyvik
K O
KO
Kessing
L V
LV
D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D014427:Twins / Q000235:genetics*