The structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for syndromal and subsyndromal common DSM-IV axis I and all axis II disorders.
OBJECTIVE
The authors sought to clarify the structure of the genetic and environmental risk factors for 22 DSM-IV disorders: 12 common axis I disorders and all 10 axis II disorders.


METHODS
The authors examined syndromal and subsyndromal axis I diagnoses and five categories reflecting number of endorsed criteria for axis II disorders in 2,111 personally interviewed young adult members of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health Twin Panel.


RESULTS
Four correlated genetic factors were identified: axis I internalizing, axis II internalizing, axis I externalizing, and axis II externalizing. Factors 1 and 2 and factors 3 and 4 were moderately correlated, supporting the importance of the internalizing-externalizing distinction. Five disorders had substantial loadings on two factors: borderline personality disorder (factors 3 and 4), somatoform disorder (factors 1 and 2), paranoid and dependent personality disorders (factors 2 and 4), and eating disorders (factors 1 and 4). Three correlated environmental factors were identified: axis II disorders, axis I internalizing disorders, and externalizing disorders versus anxiety disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
Common axis I and II psychiatric disorders have a coherent underlying genetic structure that reflects two major dimensions: internalizing versus externalizing, and axis I versus axis II. The underlying structure of environmental influences is quite different. The organization of common psychiatric disorders into coherent groups results largely from genetic, not environmental, factors. These results should be interpreted in the context of unavoidable limitations of current statistical methods applied to this number of diagnostic categories.
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, the Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, 23298-0126, USA. kendler@vcu.edu
Kenneth S
KS
Kendler
Steven H
SH
Aggen
Gun Peggy
GP
Knudsen
Espen
E
Røysamb
Michael C
MC
Neale
Ted
T
Reichborn-Kjennerud
D000328:Adult; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D004777:Environment; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009664:Norway; D012307:Risk Factors; D018433:Twin Studies as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data