Affiliation:
1. Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
2. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center Copenhagen University Hospital – Mental Health Services CPH Copenhagen Denmark
3. The National Centre for Register‐Based Research Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
4. CORE – Copenhagen Research Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark Mental Health Centre Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
5. Department of Psychology University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
6. Mental Health Services in Capital Region of Denmark Mental Health Centre Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
7. Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
Abstract
AbstractBackgroundKnowledge of the association between parental personality disorders and mental disorders in children is limited. To examine the association between parental personality disorders and the risk of mental disorders in offspring.MethodsWe linked Danish health registers to create a cohort of children born from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2016. Children were followed until their 18th birthday, diagnosis set, emigration, death, or December 31, 2016. Parental personality disorders according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Eighth or 10th Revision. Poisson regression analyses were used to estimate the incidence risk ratio (IRR) and cumulative incidence of ICD 10th mental disorders in offspring (age 0–17).ResultsThe study cohort included 1,406,965 children. For girls, maternal or paternal personality disorder (MPD/PPD) was associated with mental disorders: MPD girls (IRR, 2.74; 95% CI, 2.59–2.89) and PPD girls (IRR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.94–2.27). Likewise, the risk was increased for both MPD boys (IRR, 2.44; 95% CI, 2.33–2.56) and PPD boys (IRR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.91–2.18). For girls and boys combined, exposure to two parents with a personality disorder was associated with the highest risk (IRR, 3.69; 95% CI, 3.15–4.33). At age 18, the cumulative incidence of any mental disorder in children of one or two parents with a personality disorder was 34.1% (95% CI, 33.0–35.1), which was twice the cumulative incidence of mental disorders in nonexposed children (15.2% [95% CI, 15.1–15.3]).ConclusionChildren of parents with a personality disorder were at a 2 to 3.5 times higher risk of mental disorders compared with nonexposed offspring. Possible mechanisms of transmission of mental disorders from parent to child involve genetic, environmental, and gene–environment pathways. More research into these mechanisms and research into preventive interventions is warranted.
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health