Year: 2003
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly comorbid with other mental disorders. However, the nature of the relationship between PTSD and other mental disorders remains unclear. A discordant high-risk twin design was used on data from a sub-sample of the male-male twin pair members of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry to examine whether patterns of comorbidity are consistent with a psychopathological response to combat exposure or reflect familial vulnerability to psychopathology. Mental disorders were assessed via the Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule Version III - Revised. Discordant monozygotic within-pair comparisons revealed that PTSD probands had higher symptom counts and diagnostic prevalences of mood and anxiety disorders than their non-combat exposed co-twins. Monozygotic co-twins of PTSD probands had significantly more mood disorder symptoms than monozygotic co-twins of combat controls or dizygotic co-twins of veterans with PTSD. These findings suggest that a) major depression, generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder are part of a post-combat response syndrome; b) a shared familial vulnerability also contributes to the association between PTSD and major depression, PTSD and dysthymia, and c) this shared vulnerability is mediated by genetic factors.
Source: Twin Research
Institutions: Boston University, Boston Medical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Harvard University, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, University of Washington, Seattle Epidemiologic Information and Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis VA Medical Center, Saint Louis University, New York University
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2083320381