This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (60)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Genetics  • Genetic Disorders  • Men's Health  • Men's Health, Other  • Antisocial Personality Disorder  • Alert me on articles by topic

Kenneth S. Kendler, MD; John Myers, MS; Carol A. Prescott, PhD; Michael C. Neale, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001;58:257-265.

Background  Much of our knowledge of the role of genetic factors in the etiology of phobias comes from one population-based sample of female twins. We examined the sources of individual differences in the risks for phobias and their associated irrational fears in male twins.

Methods  In personal interviews with both members of 1198 male-male twin pairs (707 monozygotic [MZ] and 491 dizygotic [DZ]) ascertained from a population-based registry, we assessed the lifetime history of agoraphobia and social, animal, situational, and blood/injury phobias as well as their associated irrational fears. Twin resemblance was assessed by means of probandwise concordance, odds ratios, tetrachoric correlations, and univariate and multivariate biometrical model fitting.

Results  The suggestive results obtained by analysis of phobias only were supported by analyzing both fears and phobias. All 5 phobia subtypes aggregate within twinpairs. This aggregation is due largely or solely to genetic factors with heritability of liabilities ranging from 25% to 37%. Multivariate analysis revealed a common genetic factor, genetic factors specific to each subtype, and a common familial-environmental factor.

Conclusions  In male subjects, genetic risk factors, which are partially common across all subtypes and partially subtype specific, play a moderate role in the etiology of phobias and their associated irrational fears. Family environment probably has an impact on risk for agoraphobia and social phobia. The genetic liability to blood/injury phobias is not distinct from those of the more typical phobias.

From the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics (Drs Kendler, Prescott, and Neale and Mr Myers) and the Departments of Psychiatry (Drs Kendler, Prescott, and Neale and Mr Myers) and Human Genetics (Drs Kendler and Neale), Medical College of Virginia of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond.

Corresponding author and reprints: Kenneth S. Kendler, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia of Virginia Commonwealth University, 800 E Leigh St, PO Box 980126, Richmond, VA 23298-0126.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

A Longitudinal Twin Study of Fears From Middle Childhood to Early Adulthood: Evidence for a Developmentally Dynamic Genome
Kendler et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65:421-429.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Escitalopram in specific phobia: results of a placebo-controlled pilot trial
Alamy et al.
J Psychopharmacol 2008;22:157-161.
ABSTRACT  

Low Extraversion and High Neuroticism as Indices of Genetic and Environmental Risk for Social Phobia, Agoraphobia, and Animal Phobia
Bienvenu et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2007;164:1714-1721.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Population-Based Twin Study of the Relationship Between Neuroticism and Internalizing Disorders
Hettema et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2006;163:857-864.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Genome-Wide Linkage Scan for Loci Predisposing to Social Phobia: Evidence for a Chromosome 16 Risk Locus
Gelernter et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2004;161:59-66.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Structure of Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Common Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders in Men and Women
Kendler et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60:929-937.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

From Adaptive Emotion to Dysfunction: An Attachment Perspective on Social Anxiety Disorder
Vertue
Pers Soc Psychol Rev 2003;7:170-191.
ABSTRACT  

Dimensions of Religiosity and Their Relationship to Lifetime Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders
Kendler et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2003;160:496-503.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Relation Between Eating Disorders and Components of Perfectionism
Bulik et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2003;160:366-368.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Etiology of Phobias: An Evaluation of the Stress-Diathesis Model
Kendler et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59:242-248.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Review and Meta-Analysis of the Genetic Epidemiology of Anxiety Disorders
Hettema et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2001;158:1568-1578.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT