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Mates of Schizophrenic Mothers

A Study of Assortative Mating from the American-Danish High Risk Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Josef Parnas
Josef Parnas*
Affiliation:
Psykologisk Institut, University Department of Psychiatry, Kommunehospitalet, øster Farimagsgade 5, 1399 København K, Denmark
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Summary

Both mates of schizophrenic mothers and a control group consisting of mates of non-schizophrenic mothers were diagnostically examined. The former were more frequently psychiatrically deviant than their controls, both with respect to a life-time syndrome diagnosis and a personality diagnosis. Mating between a schizophrenic mother and a father who suffered from schizophrenia spectrum disorder significantly increased the offspring's risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder himself. Assortative mating was negatively correlated with age of onset of maternal schizophrenia. It is proposed that defective emotional rapport or sub-psychotic features constitute the phenotypic traits by which assortative mating operates in schizophrenia.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 146 , Issue 5 , May 1985 , pp. 490 - 497
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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