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The American Journal of Psychiatry, VOL. 126, No. 5

Articles | November 01, 1969

Psychopathology in 15,909 Pairs of Veteran Twins: Evidence for a Genetic Factor in the Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia and Its Relative Absence in Psychoneurosis

WILLIAM POLLIN; MARTIN G. ALLEN; AXEL HOFFER; JAMES R. STABENAU; ZDENEK HRUBEC

Am J Psychiatry 1969;126:597-610.

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Chief, Section on twin and sibling studies, Adult Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Md. 20014

Clinical associate, Section on twin and sibling studies, Adult Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Md. 20014

Assistant clinical director, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Mass.

Professor and chairman, department of psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Hartford, Conn.

National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Medical Follow-Up Agency, Washington, D. C.

1970, American Psychiatric Association

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Abstract

In a large twin series the monozygotic pair concordance rate for schizophrenia was found to be 3.3 times greater than the dizygotic rate. In contrast, the difference for psychoneurosis was only 1.3. Reanalysis of 18 earlier major twin studies revealed a similar difference in all but one instance. This consistent difference suggests the presence of a genetic factor in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and its relative absence in psychoneurosis. However, the role of the suggested genetic factor appears to be a limited one; 85 percent of the affected monozygotic pairs in the sample were discordant for schizophrenia.

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