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. 2011 Dec;156B(7):817-25.
doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.31226. Epub 2011 Aug 2.

Borderline personality traits and adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms: a genetic analysis of comorbidity

Marijn A Distel  1 , Angela Carlier, Christel M Middeldorp, Catherine A Derom, Gitta H Lubke, Dorret I Boomsma
Affiliations

Borderline personality traits and adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms: a genetic analysis of comorbidity

Marijn A Distel et al. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

Previous research has established the comorbidity of adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with different personality disorders including Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The association between adult ADHD and BPD has primarily been investigated at the phenotypic level and not yet at the genetic level. The present study investigates the genetic and environmental contributions to the association between borderline personality traits (BPT) and ADHD symptoms in a sample of 7,233 twins and siblings (aged 18-90 years) registered with the Netherlands Twin Register and the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey (EFPTS) . Participants completed the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS-S:SV) and the Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Features Scale (PAI-BOR). A bivariate genetic analysis was performed to determine the extent to which genetic and environmental factors influence variation in BPT and ADHD symptoms and the covariance between them. The heritability of BPT and ADHD symptoms was estimated at 45 and 36%, respectively. The remaining variance in BPT and ADHD symptoms was explained by unique environmental influences. The phenotypic correlation between BPT and ADHD symptoms was estimated at r = 0.59, and could be explained for 49% by genetic factors and 51% by environmental factors. The genetic and environmental correlations between BPT and ADHD symptoms were 0.72 and 0.51, respectively. The shared etiology between BPT and ADHD symptoms is thus a likely cause for the comorbidity of the two disorders.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Graphical representation of the best fitting bivariate genetic model. Squares represent the measured variables borderline personality traits (BPT) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. A1 represents the genetic variance that is common to BPT and ADHD symptoms. E1 represents the unique environmental factors that are common to BPT and ADHD symptoms. Path coefficients a and e represent the influence of latent additive genetic and unique environmental factors on the phenotype. All latent A and E factors have unit variances. For clarity reasons only the twins are drawn in this figure although non-twin siblings were also included in the analyses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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