Spouses show consistent similarities across nine psychiatric disorders over generations
Baku, September 4, AZERTAC
A multinational collaboration of researchers report that psychiatric spousal resemblance across nine psychiatric disorders appears consistent and persists across birth cohorts for roughly 90 years in a sample of over 14 million, according to Medical Xpress.
Previous small-scale marriage registry studies have reported spousal similarities for several disorders and related psychiatric traits. A larger, population-based comparison across cultures and generations was needed to assess how widespread the phenomenon extends.
In the study, "Spousal correlations for nine psychiatric disorders are consistent across cultures and persistent over generations," published in Nature Human Behaviour, researchers performed a large-scale analysis to quantify spousal correlations across nine psychiatric disorders and to test cultural and generational stability.
Cohorts included approximately five million spousal pairs in Taiwan, 571,534 pairs in Denmark, and published estimates from 707,263 pairs in Sweden, comprising 14.8 million individuals, with up to six million matched controls. Case counts across cohorts ranged from 1.4 million for major depressive disorder to 31,195 for anorexia nervosa.
Across Taiwanese couples, spousal resemblance appeared positive for every disorder pair, and estimates largely aligned with Nordic registry patterns aside from anorexia nervosa, obsessive compulsive disorder, and bipolar disorder, which diverged across regions.
Generational patterns in Taiwan showed multiple substance use disorder combinations rising by birth cohort, while obsessive compulsive disorder matched within spouses declined. Sex-specific differences appeared limited, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder fluctuated without a study-defined trend.
Parent–offspring resemblance tracked these shifts, rising for major depressive disorder and substance use disorder and falling for obsessive compulsive disorder across birth cohorts.
Family risk increased when both parents shared a diagnosis for schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and substance use disorder.
Genetic covariance signals aligned with these observations, with spousal resemblance correlating with Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) derived heritability and genetic correlations.
Findings indicate positive spousal resemblance across all nine psychiatric disorders in Taiwan, culturally consistent with Nordic estimates for most disorders and distinct for anorexia nervosa, obsessive compulsive disorder, and bipolar disorder.
Generational patterns in Taiwan persist across cohorts, aligning with elevated offspring risk when both parents have diagnoses and arguing for genetic studies, including GWAS, to account for non-random mating.
While genetics and environmental factors are typically considered to be underlying psychiatric disorders, the discovery of assortative mating adds another layer to both the genetic and developmental upbringing environment roles in acquiring a disorder.
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