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Specificity in familial aggregation of phobic disorders
A J Fyer1, S Mannuzza, T F Chapman
1Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
Background:
To investigate whether each of three DSM-III-R phobic disorders (simple phobia, social phobia, and agoraphobia with panic attacks) is familial and "breeds true."
Design:
Rates of each phobic disorder were contrasted in first-degree relatives of four proband groups: simple phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia with panic attacks, and not ill controls. Phobia probands were patients who had one of the phobia diagnoses but no other lifetime anxiety comorbidity.
Results:
We found moderate (two- to fourfold increased risk) but specific familial aggregation of each of the three DSM-III-R phobic disorders.
Conclusions:
These results support a specific familial contribution to each of the three phobia types. However, conclusions are limited to cases occurring without lifetime anxiety comorbidity and do not imply homogeneity within categories.