Familial aggregation of personality disorder: epidemiological evidence from high school students 18 years and older in Beijing, China.
BACKGROUND
There has been evidence from Western countries of the familial aggregation of personality disorder (PD) in clinical populations. Nonetheless, it is not clear if the results apply to nonclinical population or non-Western countries. The aim of this study is to provide evidence about the familial aggregation of PD using an epidemiological sample of high school students and their parents in Beijing, China.


METHODS
A sample of high school students (at least 18 years old) and their parents was drawn by stratified cluster sampling. Personality disorder in students was assessed via a two-stage approach, Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ) as a screening tool and International Personality Disorder Examination as the diagnostic tool. Parents completed the PDQ. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to address the familial aggregation of PD.


RESULTS
Students' PDQ scores were correlated with parents' PDQ scores. Parents of PD students scored higher in PDQ and were more likely to be PD cases than controls' parents (adjusted odds ratio, 6.4-18.8).


CONCLUSIONS
Student controls and parents are only assessed by PDQ-4.


CONCLUSIONS
Obvious familial aggregation of PD was observed in this study. Psychiatrists may consider asking about family history when diagnosing PD.
Cheng
Hui
H
Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100083, China. chengyaojin@yahoo.com
Huang
Yueqin
Y
Liu
Baohua
B
Liu
Zhaorui
Z
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics*; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult