Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T23:26:59.380Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Heritability of borderline personality disorder features is similar across three countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2007

M. A. Distel ,
T. J. Trull ,
C. A. Derom ,
E. W. Thiery ,
M. A. Grimmer ,
N. G. Martin ,
G. Willemsen  and
D. I. Boomsma
M. A. Distel*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
T. J. Trull
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA
C. A. Derom
Affiliation:
Department of Human Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
E. W. Thiery
Affiliation:
Association for Scientific Research in Multiple Births, Gent, Belgium
M. A. Grimmer
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia
N. G. Martin
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia
G. Willemsen
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
D. I. Boomsma
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
*Address for correspondence: M. A. Distel, M.Sc., VU University Amsterdam, Department of Biological Psychology, van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Background

Most of our knowledge about borderline personality disorder features has been obtained through the study of clinical samples. Although these studies are important in their own right, they are limited in their ability to address certain important epidemiological and aetiological questions such as the degree to which there is a genetic influence on the manifestation of borderline personality disorder features. Though family history studies of borderline personality disorder indicate genetic influences, there have been very few twin studies and the degree of genetic influence on borderline personality disorder remains unclear.

Method

Data were drawn from twin samples from The Netherlands (n=3918), Belgium (n=904) and Australia (n=674). In total, data were available on 5496 twins between the ages of 18 and 86 years from 3644 families who participated in the study by completion of a mailed self-report questionnaire on borderline personality disorder features.

Results

In all countries, females scored higher than males and there was a general tendency for younger adults to endorse more borderline personality disorder features than older adults. Model-fitting results showed that additive genetic influences explain 42% of the variation in borderline personality disorder features in both men and women and that this heritability estimate is similar across The Netherlands, Belgium and Australia. Unique environmental influences explain the remaining 58% of the variance.

Conclusion

Genetic factors play a role in individual differences in borderline personality disorder features in Western society.

Keywords

Borderline personality disordergeneticsheritabilitytwin study
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 9 , September 2008 , pp. 1219 - 1229
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akaike, H (1987). Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika 52, 317–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
APA (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn, revised. American Psychiatric Press: Arlington, VA.Google Scholar
Bagge, CL, Trull, TJ (2003). DAPP-BQ: factor structure and relations to personality disorder symptoms in a non-clinical sample. Journal of Personality Disorders 17, 19–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, M, Gruen, R, Asnis, L, Lord, S (1985). Familial transmission of schizotypal and borderline personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 142, 927–934.Google ScholarPubMed
Becker, DF, Grilo, CM, Edell, WS, McGlashan, TH (2000). Comorbidity of borderline personality disorder with other personality disorders in hospitalized adolescents and adults. American Journal of Psychiatry 157, 2011–2016.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
BellPringle, VJ, Pate, JL, Brown, RC (1997). Assessment of borderline personality disorder using the MMPI-2 and the personality assessment inventory. Assessment 4, 131–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, DP, Cohen, P, Skodol, A, Bezirganian, S, Brook, JS (1996). Childhood antecedents of adolescent personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 153, 907–913.Google ScholarPubMed
Boomsma, DI, Busjahn, A, Peltonen, L (2002 a). Classical twin studies and beyond. Nature Reviews Genetics 3, 872–882.Google Scholar
Boomsma, DI, de Geus, EJC, Vink, JM, Stubbe, JH, Distel, MA, Hottenga, JJ, Posthuma, D, van Beijsterveld, CEM, Hudziak, JJ, Bartels, M, Willemsen, G (2006). Netherlands Twin Register: from twins to twin families. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 849–857.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boomsma, DI, Vink, JM, van Beijsterveldt, TC, de Geus, EJC, Beem, AL, Mulder, EJ, Derks, EM, Riese, H, Willemsen, GA, Bartels, M, van den Berg, M, Kupper, NH, Polderman, TJ, Posthuma, D, Rietveld, MJ, Stubbe, JH, Knol, LI, Stroet, T, van Baal, GC (2002 b). Netherlands Twin Register: a focus on longitudinal research. Twin Research 5, 401–406.Google Scholar
Carter, JD, Joyce, PR, Mulder, RT, Sullivan, PF, Luty, SE (1999). Gender differences in the frequency of personality disorders in depressed outpatients. Journal of Personality Disorders 13, 67–74.Google Scholar
Cloninger, CR, Svrakic, DM, Przybeck, TR (1993). A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry 50, 975–990.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coid, J, Yang, M, Tyrer, P, Roberts, A, Ullrich, S (2006). Prevalence and correlates of personality disorder in Great Britain. British Journal of Psychiatry 188, 423–431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, PT, McCrae, RR (1992). Professional Manual: Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Psychological Assessment Resources: Odessa, FL.Google Scholar
Derom, C, Derom, R (2005). The East Flanders prospective twin survey. In Multiple Pregnancy: Epidemiology, Gestation and Perinatal Outcome, 2nd edn (ed. Blickstein, I. K. L. G.), pp. 39–47. Taylor and Francis: Oxford.Google Scholar
Derom, CA, Vlietinck, RF, Thiery, EW, Leroy, FOG, Fryns, JP, Derom, RM (2006). The East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey (EFPTS). Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 733–738.Google Scholar
Distel, MA, Ligthart, L, Willemsen, G, Nyholt, DR, Trull, TJ, Boomsma, DI (2007). Personality, health and lifestyle in a questionnaire family study: a comparison between highly cooperative and less cooperative families. Twin Research and Human Genetics 10, 348–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golomb, M, Fava, M, Abraham, M, Rosenbaum, JF (1995). Gender differences in personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 152, 579–582.Google Scholar
Grilo, CM (2002). Are there gender differences in DSM-IV personality disorders? Comprehensive Psychiatry 43, 427–430.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grilo, CM, Anez, LM, McGlashan, TH (2002). DSM-IV axis II comorbidity with borderline personality disorder in monolingual Hispanic psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 190, 324–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grilo, CM, Becker, DF, Walker, ML, Edell, WS, McGlashan, TH (1996). Gender differences in personality disorders in psychiatrically hospitalized young adults. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 184, 754–757.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunderson, JG, Zanarini, MC (1987). Current overview of the borderline diagnosis. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 48, 5–11.Google ScholarPubMed
Jackson, HJ, Whiteside, HL, Bates, GW, Bell, R, Rudd, RP, Edwards, J (1991). Diagnosing personality disorders in psychiatric inpatients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 83, 206–213.Google Scholar
Jacobo, MC, Blais, MA, Baity, MR, Harley, R (2007). Concurrent validity of personality assessment inventory scales in patients seeking dialectical behaviour therapy. Journal of Personality Assessment 88, 74–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jang, KL, Livesley, WJ, Vernon, PA (1996 a). Heritability of the big five personality dimensions and their facets: a twin study. Journal of Personality 64, 577–591.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jang, KL, Livesley, WJ, Vernon, PA (1996 b). The genetic basis of personality at different ages: a cross-sectional twin study. Personality and Individual Differences 21, 299–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jang, KL, Livesley, WJ, Vernon, PA, Jackson, DN (1996 c). Heritability of personality disorder traits: a twin study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 94, 438–444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jardine, R, Martin, NG, Henderson, AS (1984). Genetic covariation between neuroticism and the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Genetic Epidemiology 1, 89–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, AM, Vernon, PA, Harris, JA, Jang, KL (2004). A behavior genetic investigation of the relationship between leadership and personality. Twin Research 7, 27–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, BA, Brent, DA, Connolly, J, Bridge, J, Matta, J, Constantine, D, Rather, C, White, T (1995). Familial aggregation of adolescent personality disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 34, 798–804.Google Scholar
Johnson, JG, Cohen, P, Kasen, S, Skodol, AE, Hamagami, F, Brook, JS (2000). Age-related change in personality disorder trait levels between early adolescence and adulthood: a community-based longitudinal investigation. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 102, 265–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keller, MC, Coventry, WL, Heath, AC, Martin, NG (2005). Widespread evidence for non-additive genetic variation in Cloninger's and Eysenck's personality dimensions using a twin plus sibling design. Behavior Genetics 35, 707–721.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Korner, A, Gerull, F, Stevenson, J, Meares, R (2007). Harm avoidance, self-harm, psychic pain, and the borderline personality: life in a ‘haunted house’. Comprehensive Psychiatry 48, 303–308.Google Scholar
Kurtz, JE, Morey, LC (2001). Use of structured self-report assessment to diagnose borderline personality disorder during major depressive episodes. Assessment 8, 291–300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kurtz, JE, Morey, LC, Tomarken, AJ (1993). The concurrent validity of three self-report measures of borderline personality. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 15, 255–266.Google Scholar
Livesley, WJ (1986). Trait and behavioral prototypes of personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 143, 728–732.Google ScholarPubMed
Livesley, WJ (1987). A systematic approach to the delineation of personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 144, 772–777.Google Scholar
Livesley, WJ (2006). The dimensional assessment of personality pathology (DAPP) approach to personality disorder. In Differentiating Normal and Abnormal Personality, 2nd edn (ed. Strack, S.), pp. 401–425. Springer Publishing Company: New York.Google Scholar
Livesley, WJ (2007). A framework for integrating dimensional and categorical classifications of personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders 21, 199–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Livesley, WJ, Jang, KL, Jackson, DN, Vernon, PA (1993). Genetic and environmental contributions to dimensions of personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 150, 1826–1831.Google ScholarPubMed
Livesley, WJ, Jang, KL, Vernon, PA (1998). Phenotypic and genetic structure of traits delineating personality disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 55, 941–948.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loos, R, Derom, C, Vlietinck, R, Derom, R (1998). The East Flanders prospective twin survey (Belgium): a population-based register. Twin Research 1, 167–175.Google ScholarPubMed
Loranger, AW, Oldham, JM, Tulis, EH (1982). Familial transmission of DSM-III borderline personality disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 39, 795–799.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGlashan, TH, Grilo, CM, Skodol, AE, Gunderson, JG, Shea, MT, Morey, LC, Zanarini, MC, Stout, RL (2000). The collaborative longitudinal personality disorders study: baseline axis I/II and II/II diagnostic co-occurrence. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 102, 256–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morey, LC (1988). The categorical representation of personality disorder: a cluster analysis of DSM-III-R personality features. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 97, 314–321.Google Scholar
Morey, LC (1991). The Personality Assessment Inventory: Professional Manual. Psychological Assessment Resources: Odessa, FL.Google Scholar
Neale, MC, Boker, SM, Xie, G, Maes, HH (2003). Mx: Statistical Modeling, 6th edn.Virginia Commonwealth University: Richmond, VA.Google Scholar
Neale, MC, Cardon, L (1992). Methodology for Genetic Studies of Twins and Families. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nigg, JT, Goldsmith, HH (1994). Genetics of personality disorders: perspectives from personality and psychopathology research. Psychological Bulletin 115, 346–380.Google Scholar
Nyholt, DR (2006). On the probability of dizygotic twins being concordant for two alleles at multiple polymorphic loci. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 194–197.Google Scholar
Paris, J, Brown, R, Nowlis, D (1987). Long-term follow-up of borderline patients in a general hospital. Comprehensive Psychiatry 28, 530–535.Google Scholar
Pukrop, R, Gentil, I, Steinbring, I, Steinmeyer, E (2001). Factorial structure of the German version of the dimensional assessment of personality pathology – basic questionnaire in clinical and nonclinical samples. Journal of Personality Disorders 15, 450–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Samuels, J, Eaton, WW, Bienvenu, OJ, Brown, CH, Costa, PT, Nestadt, G (2002). Prevalence and correlates of personality disorders in a community sample. British Journal of Psychiatry 180, 536–542.Google Scholar
Saulsman, LM, Page, AC (2004). The five-factor model and personality disorder empirical literature: a meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review 23, 1055–1085.Google Scholar
Skodol, AE, Gunderson, JG, Pfohl, B, Widiger, TA, Livesley, WJ, Siever, LJ (2002). The borderline diagnosis I: Psychopathology, comorbidity, and personality structure. Biological Psychiatry 51, 936–950.Google Scholar
Stein, MB, Pinkster-Aspen, JH, Hilsenroth, MJ (2007). Borderline pathology and the personality assessment inventory (PAI): an evaluation of criterion and concurrent validity. Journal of Personality Assessment 88, 81–89.Google Scholar
Stone, MH (1990). The Fate of Borderline Patients: Successful Outcome and Psychiatric Practice. Guilford Press: New York, NY.Google Scholar
Stubbe, JH, Posthuma, D, Boomsma, DI, de Geus, EJC (2005). Heritability of life satisfaction in adults: a twin-family study. Psychological Medicine 35, 1581–1588.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Torgersen, S (1984). Genetic and nosological aspects of schizotypal and borderline personality disorders. A twin study. Archives of General Psychiatry 41, 546–554.Google Scholar
Torgersen, S, Kringlen, E, Cramer, V (2001). The prevalence of personality disorders in a community sample. Archives of General Psychiatry 58, 590–596.Google Scholar
Torgersen, S, Lygren, S, Oien, PA, Skre, I, Onstad, S, Edvardsen, J, Tambs, K, Kringlen, E (2000). A twin study of personality disorders. Comprehensive Psychiatry 41, 416–425.Google Scholar
Trull, TJ (1995). Borderline personality disorder features in nonclinical young adults: 1. Identification and validation. Psychological Assessment 7, 33–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trull, TJ (2001). Structural relations between borderline personality disorder features and putative etiological correlates. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 110, 471–481.Google Scholar
Trull, TJ, Tragesser, SL, Solhan, M, Schwartz-Mette, R (2007). Dimensional models of personality disorder: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition and beyond. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 20, 52–56.Google Scholar
Trull, TJ, Widiger, TA, Guthrie, P (1990). Categorical versus dimensional status of borderline personality disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 99, 40–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vink, JM, Willemsen, G, Stubbe, JH, Middeldorp, CM, Ligthart, RS, Baas, KD, Dirkzwager, HJ, de Geus, EJ, Boomsma, DI (2004). Estimating non-response bias in family studies: application to mental health and lifestyle. European Journal of Epidemiology 19, 623–630.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Widiger, TA, Trull, TJ (2007). Plate tectonics in the classification of personality disorder: shifting to a dimensional model. American Psychologist 62, 71–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Widiger, TA, Weissman, MM (1991). Epidemiology of borderline personality disorder. Hospital and Community Psychiatry (Washington, DC) 42, 1015–1021.Google Scholar
Willemsen, G, Posthuma, D, Boomsma, DI (2005). Environmental factors determine where the Dutch live: results from the Netherlands Twin Register. Twin Research and Human Genetics 8, 312–317.Google Scholar
Zanarini, MC, Frankenburg, FR, Dubo, ED, Sickel, AE, Trikha, A, Levin, A, Reynolds, V (1998). Axis I comorbidity of borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 155, 1733–1739.Google Scholar
Zanarini, MC, Frankenburg, FR, Yong, L, Raviola, G, Reich, DB, Hennen, J, Hudson, JI, Gunderson, JG (2004). Borderline psychopathology in the first-degree relatives of borderline and axis II comparison probands. Journal of Personality Disorders 18, 439–447.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmerman, M, Coryell, W (1989). DSM-III personality disorder diagnoses in a nonpatient sample. Demographic correlates and comorbidity. Archives of General Psychiatry 46, 682–689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, M, Mattia, JI (1999). Axis I diagnostic comorbidity and borderline personality disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry 40, 245–252.Google Scholar