Personality disorders in adopted versus non-adopted adults.
The goal of this epidemiological study was to investigate lifetime history and odds ratios of personality disorders in adopted and non-adopted adults using a nationally representative sample. Data, drawn from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), were compared in adopted (n=378) versus non-adopted (n=42,503) adults to estimate the odds of seven personality disorders using logistic regression analyses. The seven personality disorders were histrionic, antisocial, avoidant, paranoid, schizoid, obsessive-compulsive, and dependent personality disorder. Adoptees had a 1.81-fold increase in the odds of any personality disorder compared with non-adoptees. Adoptees had increased odds of histrionic, antisocial, avoidant, paranoid, schizoid, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder compared with non-adoptees. Two risk factors associated with lifetime history of a personality disorder in adoptees compared to non-adoptees were (1) being in the age cohort 18-29 years (but no difference in the age 30-44 cohort), using the age 45 or older cohort as the reference and (2) having 12 years of education (but no difference in higher education groups), using the 0-11 years of education as the reference. These findings support the higher rates of personality disorders among adoptees compared to non-adoptees.
Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Electronic address: weste010@umn.edu.
Joseph
J
Westermeyer
Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Gihyun
G
Yoon
Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Carla
C
Amundson
Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Marion
M
Warwick
Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Michael A
MA
Kuskowski
D000293:Adolescent; D000300:Adoption; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
Adoptees; Adoption; Epidemiology; Morbidity; National survey; Personality disorder; Prevalence