Cardno, Alastair G., Rijsdijk, Frühling V., West, Robert M., Gottesman, Irving I., Craddock, Nicholas John ![]() |
Abstract
The nosological status of schizoaffective disorders remains controversial. Twin studies are potentially valuable for investigating relationships between schizoaffective-mania, schizoaffective-depression, and other psychotic syndromes, but no such study has yet been reported. We ascertained 224 probandwise twin pairs [106 monozygotic (MZ), 118 same-sex dizygotic (DZ)], where probands had psychotic or manic symptoms, from the Maudsley Twin Register in London (1948–1993). We investigated Research Diagnostic Criteria schizoaffective-mania, schizoaffective-depression, schizophrenia, mania and depressive psychosis primarily using a non-hierarchical classification, and additionally using hierarchical and data-derived classifications, and a classification featuring broad schizophrenic and manic syndromes without separate schizoaffective syndromes. We investigated inter-rater reliability and co-occurrence of syndromes within twin probands and twin pairs. The schizoaffective syndromes showed only moderate inter-rater reliability. There was general significant co-occurrence between syndromes within twin probands and MZ pairs, and a trend for schizoaffective-mania and mania to have the greatest co-occurrence. Schizoaffective syndromes in MZ probands were associated with relatively high risk of a psychotic syndrome occurring in their co-twins. The classification of broad schizophrenic and manic syndromes without separate schizoaffective syndromes showed improved inter-rater reliability, but high genetic and environmental correlations between the two broad syndromes. The results are consistent with regarding schizoaffective-mania as due to co-occurring elevated liability to schizophrenia, mania, and depression; and schizoaffective-depression as due to co-occurring elevated liability to schizophrenia and depression, but with less elevation of liability to mania. If in due course schizoaffective syndromes show satisfactory inter-rater reliability and some specific etiological factors they could alternatively be regarded as partly independent disorders
Item Type: | Article |
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Date Type: | Publication |
Status: | Published |
Schools: | MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG) Medicine |
Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | schizoaffective disorder; schizophrenia; bipolar disorder; depressive psychosis; genetics |
Publisher: | Wiley-Blackwell |
ISSN: | 1552-4841 |
Last Modified: | 19 Oct 2022 09:48 |
URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/22226 |
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