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Spousal resemblance in psychopathology: A comparison of parents of children with and without psychopathology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

LW Wesseldijk ,
GC Dieleman ,
RJL Lindauer ,
M Bartels ,
G Willemsen ,
JJ Hudziak ,
DI Boomsma  and
CM Middeldorp
LW Wesseldijk*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
GC Dieleman
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam/Sophia Children’s Hospital, Wytemaweg 80, 3015CNRotterdam, The Netherlands
RJL Lindauer
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 5, 1105AZAmsterdam, The Netherlands De Bascule, Academic Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
M Bartels
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
G Willemsen
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
JJ Hudziak
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Medicine (Division of Human Genetics), Center for Children, Youth and Families, University of Vermont, B229Given B Burlington, VT05405, USA
DI Boomsma
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
CM Middeldorp
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, GGZ inGeest/VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author. at: VU University Amsterdam, Department of Biological Psychology, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail address:l.w.wesseldijk@vu.nl (L.W. Wesseldijk).
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Abstract

Background

Spouses resemble each other for psychopathology, but data regarding spousal resemblance in externalizing psychopathology, and data regarding spousal resemblance across different syndromes (e.g. anxiety in wives and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] in husbands) are limited. Moreover, knowledge is lacking regarding spousal resemblance in parents of children with psychiatric disorders. We investigated and compared spousal resemblance within and across internalizing and externalizing symptom domains in parents of children with and without psychopathology.

Methods

Symptoms of depression, anxiety, avoidant personality, ADHD, and antisocial personality were assessed with the Adult Self Report in 728 mothers and 544 fathers of 778 children seen in child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics and in 2075 mothers and 1623 fathers of 2784 children from a population-based sample. Differences in symptom scores and spousal correlations between the samples were tested.

Results

Parents in the clinical sample had higher symptom scores than in the population-based sample. In both samples, correlations within and across internalizing and externalizing domains of psychopathology were significant. Importantly, correlations were significantly higher in the clinical sample (P = 0.03). Correlations, within and across symptoms, ranged from 0.14 to 0.30 in the clinical sample and from 0.05 to 0.23 in the population-based sample.

Conclusions

This large study shows that spousal resemblance is not only present within but also across symptom domains. Especially in the clinical sample, ADHD symptoms in fathers and antisocial personality symptoms in mothers were correlated with a range of psychiatric symptoms in their spouses. Clinicians need to be alert of these multiple affected families.

Keywords

PsychopathologySpousal resemblanceDepressionADHDAntisocial behavior
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 34 , April 2016 , pp. 49 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatry 2016

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