Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Intergenerational transmission of personality disorder severity and the role of psychosocial risk factors” by Auty, K. M.; Farrington, D. P. and Coid, J. W. (2021), in which authors study if parents transmit their personality disorders to their children, and if it is so, how it happens.
It is not the first time that the possibility of mental illnesses being transmitted from parents to children has been presented to us. Family influences in the development of different forms of psychopathology are well supported in the empirical research literature.
However, the factors that explain this generational continuity could be more, apart from genetic ones.
Reviewing existing literature, a strong relationship was found between antisocial, borderline, and narcissistic personality disorders in the parents, and psychopathologies in their offspring.
And furthermore, intergenerational associations have also been previously shown for internalizing disorders.
Thanks to studies carried out with twins, it began to be suspected that other factors besides genetics were involved in this matter, since the twins did not present a disorder in the same way, or even one of them did not present it and the other did.
Parental psychopathology might have an indirect influence, rather than direct one through biology. This indirect influence could come through the environment, such as the socioeconomic circumstances of the family or their upbringing style.
Furthermore, these factors may have different impacts on male and female offspring.
The measurement and study of the bonds between the experience of parents in childhood and the experience of their children at the same age, is often neglected in studies, where the two generations are followed, often peculiarly.
People with early-onset conduct problems often grow up in families with multiple psychosocial disadvantages. As adults, these children tend to experience problems in many areas: financial, employment, substance abuse, violent or drug-related crimes, early childbearing, school failure, poor physical and mental health, sexual problems, or difficulties in their interpersonal relationships.
Studies examining the influence of parental psychopathology on the development of problem behaviors in children, have traditionally focused on mothers, possibly due to a high prevalence of father absenteeism in child rearing. This implies that the impact of male parental behavior is less well understood.
Understanding the nature of risk factors that influence the transmission of mental disorders from parents to children may help explain behavior problems in adulthood.
In addition, children who are at higher risk of presenting a maladaptive personality, not only suffer themselves, but also represent a high cost for society and it is not clear yet what are the most effective interventions.
The objective of this study was to establish whether there was an association, firstly, between the qualities of personality disorders in a sample of men and their offspring; secondly, if there is an association between the severity of the disorders; thirdly, if there are psychosocial risk factors and which.
The study was carried out with a sample of 411 men and their children. It began in 1961-1962, and regular interviews were conducted ever since, including sons and daughters when they had reached adulthood.
The interview collected information about crime, drug and alcohol use, sexual behavior, illness, injury, aggressive attitudes, personality, employment, relationships, children, and parenting behaviors.
The obtained results did not provide sufficient evidence of intergenerational transmission of severe personality disorders between fathers and sons, but it was found between fathers and daughters.
In addition, results suggested that three psychosocial risk factors were associated with the severity of the disorder: parental employment problems, broken family, and poor supervision of the child during childhood. However, the results also reported that these psychosocial factors had little effect once the severity of the mental disorder was already present.
Children of a parent with personality disorders suffer from two potential disadvantages: an increased genetic risk for personality disorders, and being raised in an environment that is not conducive to successful parenting.
One of the limitations of the study is that the interviews, which are similar to self-reports, may not be completely objective, since people with personality disorders often have problems with self-awareness.
In future studies, authors suggest that adaptive coping strategies should be investigated, since those with resilient personality traits are more likely to seek for others who are equally prosocial and therefore less likely to develop psychopathologies in adulthood.
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