PERSONALITY-TRAITS IN OFFSPRING OF PARENTS WITH UNIPOLAR AFFECTIVE-DISORDER - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

The adolescent offspring of parents with unipolar affective disorder [n = 46] were compared to the offspring of parents with chronic medical conditions [n = 33] and to offspring of normal controls [n = 38] on a questionnaire battery assessing a wide range of personality traits. Offspring of unipolars did not differ from offspring of parents with chronic medical conditions or offspring of normal parents on self-report measures of dependency, self-criticism, neuroticism, introversion, obsessionality, constraint, emotional expressiveness, affective intensity, and attributional style. Overall, these findings fail to support the role of personality as vulnerability markers for mood disorders in at-risk adolescents and young adults. However, some differences on self-report were found between subgroups of offspring.