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Severe mental disorders in offspring with 2 psychiatrically ill parents

Irving I Gottesman1, Thomas Munk Laursen, Aksel Bertelsen

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55454-1495, USA. gotte003@umn.edu

Archives of General Psychiatry
|March 3, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Children of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder face significantly increased risks for these conditions. Double parental diagnosis dramatically elevates morbid risk, informing genetic counseling and research.

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Genetics
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Understanding the impact of parental psychiatric diagnoses on offspring is crucial for genetic research and counseling.
  • Previous studies have explored single parental diagnoses, but the effects of dual diagnoses require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify the cumulative incidence of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in offspring from parents with a dual diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
  • To compare these risks with offspring from couples with a single parental diagnosis or no parental psychiatric history.

Main Methods:

  • A nationwide population-based cohort study was conducted in Denmark.
  • Data from 2.7 million individuals born between 1968 and 2007 were analyzed using national registers.
  • Cumulative incidences of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were calculated by age 52 for offspring based on parental psychiatric diagnoses.

Main Results:

  • Offspring with two parents diagnosed with schizophrenia had a 27.3% risk of schizophrenia (39.2% including related disorders).
  • Offspring with two parents diagnosed with bipolar disorder had a 24.9% risk of bipolar disorder (36.0% including depressive disorders).
  • Offspring with one parent diagnosed with schizophrenia and the other with bipolar disorder had risks of 15.6% for schizophrenia and 11.7% for bipolar disorder.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides specific risk figures for offspring of parents with dual psychiatric diagnoses, valuable for genetic counseling.
  • Observed transmission patterns suggest potential genetic overlap between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder categories.
Abstract

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