Genetics of personality disorders

This paper provides a brief review of genetically informative studies of personality disorders. Findings from twin and adoption studies suggest that personality disorders are moderately to strongly heritable (heritability estimates between 30% and 80%) and that environmental factors that increase the risk of personality disorder are individual specific (non-shared environment estimates between 25% and 70%). Molecular genetic studies of personality disorders have yielded some replicated findings and have highlighted the potential importance of environmental risk factors in unmasking the genetic vulnerability. A new research area of imaging genetics is providing insights to the mechanisms of genetic vulnerability to personality disorders. Studies to date suggest that genetic variation may account for individual differences in neurocognitive functioning, which could lead to differential vulnerability to any given personality disorder and account for treatment response. Genetically informative studies on personality disorders have the scope to inform clinical practice, such as targeting vulnerable children showing emergent personality disorder with appropriate intervention.